Kiss From A Rose
by SportyLovatic
Summary: When a murdered Petty Officer turns up on the autopsy table of Dr. Maura Isles, NCIS calls on her to assist in finding the killer. But the events that follow not only led them to the killer but a long buried secret that will change her life and the lives of those at NCIS forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Here we go! Chapter One! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

NCIS Director Leon Vance sat at his desk working on his latest stacks of case reviews when he heard the knock on the door.

"Come in," said Vance, never looking up from his work.

In walked Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, the expression on his face said it all. "You wanted to see me?"

Vance gestured to the seat across from him at his desk. "Have a seat."

Gibbs sat down in the chair.

Vance slid a manila envelope to the agent.

Gibbs picked up the envelope, reading the content inside. "The Ramirez Brothers case."

"Sean and John Ramirez, master chiefs in the Navy, raped and murdered four women in Norfolk before fleeing the state."

"John was caught in North Carolina two weeks later, wouldn't take the plea bargain to give up Sean's location, case went cold."

"Well, it just got hot again. Bodies have been discovered by Boston Homicide and the M.O. bares a close resemblance to Ramirez case."

"Think Sean is back at it?"

"Don't know? But the least victim was one of ours. Petty Officer Julie Singer, she was a naval Israeli translator home on leave from a mission in the Middle East."

"Reopening the case?"

"I want to know if this is Ramirez and not just a copycat. Seeing that Ducky was the M.E. who over saw the previous case, I want him to examine the body. If his findings are consistent with that of the previous case, we will reopen the case. If not, we will let Boston Homicide handle it."

"Well the NCIS agents in Boston are going to have to handle it, me and my team are already neck deep in a case. I can't sacrifice any of my people right now, not even Ducky!" Gibbs closed the folder sliding it back to Vance.

"Your case, your lead Gibbs."

Gibbs stared at Vance. "You know my rules?"

"I've picked up a few. I believe that is number 38?"

Gibbs let in impressed half smile escape his lips.

"I'm having the body escorted back here along with M.E. who has been handling the current case."

"Why the M.E.? Ducky can handle the autopsy."

"The M.E. at Boston P.D. has already done an initial autopsy, Ducky's will be a secondary autopsy thus for consistency purposes."

"Can't they just send back the autopsy report along with the body?"

"You questioning my actions, Gibbs?"

"No, it just seems like an inconvenience to drag a medical examiner all the way from Boston to oversee a secondary autopsy."

"Psychological analysis, the M.E. is familiar with this killer's work as Ducky is with ours. It will help us determine if this is Ramirez we're dealing with."

"Do what you want, Leon. Just as long as this doesn't interfere with my case."

"It won't," Leon pressed the intercom on his desk phone. "Send in Agents Levi and Williams."

"Levi and Williams?"

"They are being temporarily assigned to your team to help with this investigation."

"Oh no! Not those two!"

"They are only here to assist as needed."

There was another knock at the door.

"Come in!"

In walked NCIS agents Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams. Daniel Levi was a well put together, well-toned man in his early thirties. From the look of his appearance, you could tell he was a no nonsense kind of guy, he was about doing his job and doing it to the best of his abilities. Skylar Williams, on the hand, was a fresh faced agent in her twenties who looked like she should have been graduating college rather than working as a third year probationary agent at NCIS.

"Agent Levi, Agent Williams, you know Agent Gibbs?"

Daniel reached out a hand to Gibbs. "Agent Gibbs, Agent Daniel Levi, nice to meet you! Heard many things about you!"

"Wish I could say the same," replied Gibbs, looking Daniel up and down.

"This is my partner, Agent Skylar Williams."

Skylar shook Gibbs' hand. "Nice to meet you, sir!"

Gibbs said nothing.

"Agent Williams and Levi you will be temporarily assigned to Gibbs' team to assist on a case until his team is ready to take over. Your first assignment will be to escort a body along with a medical examiner from Boston back here. You think you two can handle that?"

"Yes, sir," replied Skylar and Daniel.

"Very good! You are schedule to leave on a flight for Boston first thing tomorrow morning. Don't miss it!" said Director Vance as he handed the manila envelope to Agent Levi.

"Can do, Director! And Agent Gibbs if there is anything you need from us, don't hesitate to ask," replied Daniel.

"Oh, I won't Agent Levi," replied Gibbs.

Daniel and Skylar exited the room.

Agent Levi and Agent Williams walked down the stairs to the NCIS Squad Room.

"Check us out, Levi! We got our first special assignment! And with Gibbs' team!" exclaimed Skylar.

"Don't get too excited, Williams!" replied Daniel.

"We haven't gotten any type of work in months. It's a nice change of pace from pushing papers!"

"If I recall the reason why we are pushing papers is because you failed to follow orders on our last assignment, Probie" spat Daniel at Skylar causing her to stop in her tracks.

"I made a mistake, Daniel! No one got hurt!"

"No one got hurt?"

"Okay, maybe one person got hurt but they're fine now!"

Daniel ignored Skylar, throwing the envelope onto his desk before flopping down in his chair.

"So what does it say?" asked Skylar as she walked over to Levi who read the content of the folder.

"Nothing! All that's in here are plane tickets, a piece of a paper with the address to the Boston Police Department and the name of the M.E."

"What's the name?"

"Maura!" shouted Detective Jane Rizzoli as she walked into the autopsy room to find her best friend and Chief Medical Examiner of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Dr. Maura Isles, hovering over a body on the table. "I'm starving! You want to hit up the café for lunch?"

"You are by no means starving, Jane! You have no loss of muscle mass and you so no signs of catabolysis!" replied the honey blonde Medical Examiner, never looking up from the body on her table.

"You know what I mean? I'm hungry! I could go for some of Ma's Mac N Cheese with ketchup?"

"What no chocolate covered bacon?"

"I'm eating healthy," joked Jane.

"You might try some leafy greens instead."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Are you coming or what?"

"I'm almost done here. Any luck identifying our latest victim?"

"Yeah, she's Petty Officer Julie Singer."

"Petty Officer? She's in the Navy?"

"Apparently. Frost is trying to get more info," Jane watched as the expression on Maura's face changed. "What?"

"Well, it's odd! None of the other victims were in the Navy."

"I know. But the M.O.'s match so it's got to be our guy."

"My analysis shows that the killer is methodical in picking his victims. Why all of a sudden go after a naval officer?"

"She was home on leave, we found her in civilian clothes, guessing he didn't know she was in the Navy?"

"You know I don't like guessing, Jane."

Jane rolled her eyes as Maura continued her examination of the body on the table. Meanwhile, Jane tapped her foot impatiently.

"You're foot tapping is very distracting!"

"That's because I'm very hungry! All I had for breakfast were those nasty ass Quinoa pancakes Ma made in the café!"

"They were a bit gritty, weren't they?"

"You think?"

Daniel Levi walked into autopsy, startling the two women.

"Can I help you?" asked Jane.

Daniel flashed his badge. "Agent Levi and Agent…" Daniel looked to his side to see that he was alone. He walked back out the door. "Williams!"

Skylar came running down the hall. "Sorry, I got lost!"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Agent Levi and Agent Williams, NCIS."

"NCIS?" questioned Jane.

"It stands for…"

"Naval Criminal Investigative Services," finished Maura.

"Right! Most people think that we are from the National Crop Insurance Service," joked Skylar.

"Navy cops? What are you doing here?" asked Jane.

"We are here to escort the body of Petty Office Singer back to our agency," said Daniel.

"Claim the body? What? No!"

"Petty Officer Singer's death is a matter to be handled by NCIS, ma'am!"

"Ma'am?"

"I'm sorry, you're…"

"Rizzoli! Detective Jane Rizzoli!"

"And I'm talking to you because?"

"Because I'm the detective leading the homicide investigation in her murder!"

"Not anymore! NCIS will be taking over!"

"No, you're not! That body is evidence in a Boston Homicide serial murder investigation!"

Skylar interrupted. "We are not trying to step on toes here Detective Rizzoli. Crimes involving the Navy are handled by NCIS, we are just carrying out orders."

"Murders that happen in Boston, are handled by Boston Homicide. Orders or not, this is our case and you aren't getting that body!"

Daniel handed Jane papers. "I thought you might say something like that."

Jane read the documents. "A federal warrant for the body."

"Yep! Federal trumps local. The body is coming with us! Now, where can we find the M.E. who performed the autopsy?"

"What do you need with the M.E.?" asked Maura.

Daniel pulled out another set of papers. "Our Director has asked that we bring them back along with the body."

"What?" asked Maura, pulling off her gloves before taking the papers from Daniel. "Why do I need to go?"

"You're Dr. Maura Isles?" asked Daniel.

"Yes, I performed the autopsy on the body."

"The Navy has asked for your assists in this investigation."

"Not only do you want the body, you want my M.E. too?" asked Jane.

"It's just for a few days."

"Well I'm going to need some time to call in another M.E. to take over while I'm gone," said Maura.

"No you won't because you aren't going!" spat Jane, taking the paper from Maura and slamming them in Daniel's chest. "I don't know who you NCSI people think you are coming in here flashing your badges and trying to take over my case but it's not happening! This body and Dr. Isles are staying here!"

"Is that so, Detective Rizzoli?" asked Levi.

"Yeah!"

"Well we will just see about that?" Daniel and Skylar left autopsy leaving the two women standing alone.

"This is bullshit! I fucking hate Feds!" exclaimed Jane.

"Jane, the language!" retorted Maura.

"They are always coming in here, flashing their little badges and pushing us around! This is my case!"

"It's federal warrant, Jane! And she is a naval officer."

"So? This is a Boston Homicide Investigation! They are not taking the body! Or you!"

"I have to go!"

"No, you don't!"

"Jane?"

"You're not going, Maura! If they want you they are going to have to arrest you!"

"I prefer not to be arrested, Jane."

Jane's phone buzzed. She looked at the message and let out a heavy groan. "Uh! Cavanagh want to see us! How much you want to bet it has to do with those damn Navy cops?"

"I'm not one for betting," said Maura, as she followed Jane out of autopsy.

Upstairs, Jane and Maura walked into Lieutenant Cavanagh's office. Just as she suspected, Daniel and Skylar were also in his office, Daniel wearing a slick smile on his face.

"Give NCIS the body, Detective Rizzoli," ordered the Lieutenant, hanging up the phone.

"Sir, the body is evidence in a Boston Homicide case…"

"She's a naval officer, Rizzoli! Jurisdiction falls with NCIS. Boston Homicide will continue to look into the homicide here but the body is to be released to NCIS and Dr. Isles will accompany it to D.C."

"You're sending our M.E.?"

"I just got off the phone with the Director of NCIS, they believe that our case may be connected with one of theirs. Dr. Isles with go to D.C. to assist in a secondary autopsy as well as help them psychological profile our killer."

"D.C.? What if our killer strikes again? I need Dr. Isles here!"

"I'm sure Dr. Isles will find a suitable replacement to fill her position in here absence."

"I will get on that right now sir," said Maura.

"Our flight is scheduled to leave at 9am tomorrow morning. Please have the body ready for transport by 7am," said Daniel as he left the office, giving Jane a cheeky smile on his way out.

"If you need any help with anything, just ah…let me know!" said Skylar as she exited behind Daniel.

Jane looked at Cavanagh.

"Don't worry about what NCIS is doing, Rizzoli. I want you focused on finding who did this to that Petty Officer."

"Of course," spat Jane storming out of the office, Maura right behind her.

"I wonder what the weather is like in D.C. this time of year? You think open toed shoes would be okay or should I wear boots?"

Jane stopped dead in her tracks. "Really, Maura?"

**Chapter one! What do you think? I know there isn't much to go off of in this chapter but it gets better just roll with me! Reviews and comments are welcomed an update is coming soon :-)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here we go! Chapter 2! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

Eleven o'clock the next morning, Maura Isles was sitting in the office of NCIS Director Leon Vance along with Agents Williams and Levi.

"I want to thank you for your cooperation, Dr. Isles. I know this was very short notice but I appreciate you coming to help," said Vance.

"I'm glad that I can help. This case has been a challenge for my colleagues and me in Boston. If this will help us catch whoever is doing this, I want to do all I can."

"Well, that's good to know. You will be working alongside our Medical Examiner Doctor Donald Mallard. He is going to be performing a secondary autopsy on the body. Go through your notes and make sure that nothing is missed. I need you to be very thorough with this Dr. Isles, you and Dr. Mallard's findings will determine whether or not this case is reopened."

"Of course, Director Vance."

"To make your time here in D.C. as easy as possible, Agents Levi and Williams will be available to you. Anything you need you ask them."

"I don't want to intrude."

"You're not intruding, Agents Levi and Williams will be happy to help you. Think of them as your personal concierges. Isn't that right?"

Daniel and Skylar looked at each other.

"Isn't that right?"

"Yes, of course! Anything you need Dr. Isles, feel free to ask," said Daniel, clearly unenthused about the assignment.

"Good! Come on, I'll take you down to autopsy so you can get settled in," said Vance as he got up to escort Maura out the room.

Skylar looked at Daniel. "Looks like we will be personal assistants for the next few days."

"I was assigned to work with Agent Gibbs not some M.E. from Boston! You can be her personal assistant!" scoffed Daniel as he stormed out the room.

The elevator to the squad room dinged and off stepped Special Agents Anthony DiNozzo and Timothy McGee. A yawn escaped Tony's mouth as he trudged his way over to his desk, throwing down his bag before falling into his chair.

"What time is it?" groaned Tony.

"Eleven o'clock," yawned McGee, crashing down into his chair, resting his head on his desk.

"We've been up all night! I hate stakeouts!"

"Whose we? You feel asleep! I was up all night!"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did! You were snoring!"

"I was meditating!"

"Yeah, right?"

Tony ran his hands over his eyes. "I need coffee! You want some?"

"Please!"

Tony got up and haphazardly made his way towards the lounge to get a much needed cup of coffee. His focus directed to the ground in front of him, his was attention was jolted when he walked into a passerby.

"Oh, excuse me," Tony froze as he laid eyes on the honey blonde woman.

"Agent DiNozzo, I would like you to meet Dr. Maura Isles. She will be helping Ducky on a case," introduced Vance.

Tony was speechless. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him, there was no way.

"Nice to meet, Agent DiNozzo" said Maura, as she walked by Tony following Vance to the elevators.

Tony watched as Maura walked away. The man in him couldn't help but take in the woman's figure, silhouetted so perfectly by her skirt and jacket but it was her face that most intrigued him. The elevator dinged and Vance stepped on first, Tony felt his heart stop for a moment as Maura looked his way before she disappeared onto the elevator.

Stunned, Tony did an about face and headed back to his desk.

"What happened? I thought you were going to get coffee?" asked McGee.

"Did you see that woman with Vance?" asked Tony.

"What women?"

"The woman Vance just got on the elevator with."

"No, why?"

"I think I just saw a ghost!"

"A ghost?"

"You don't understand she looked just like…" Tony paused as he looked back towards the elevator.

"Looks like who? An ex-girlfriend?"

"What? No! She looked like..." Tony paused for a moment. "Never mind, let's just get back to work."

Down in autopsy, Ducky and Palmer lifted the body bag onto the table.

"Who do we have here, Doctor?" asked Palmer.

"This, Mr. Palmer, is Julie Singer. A Naval Petty Officer found in Boston," explained Ducky.

"Long way from Boston, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is! The director has ordered that a secondary autopsy be done on our Petty Officer."

"What are we looking for?"

"Similarities between this case and that of the Ramirez Brothers. Vance thinks there may be a connection."

Palmer looked around the autopsy room. "There doesn't seem to be an autopsy report with the body."

"The M.E. must still have it."

"Should I give them a call?"

"No, she should be on her way."

"The M.E. is coming here?"

"Yes, a one Dr. Maura Isles. Boston Homicide has been following a string of murders that are similar to that of the Ramirez case. With her help, I will be better able to determine if he is in fact our killer."

"So where is this Dr. Isles?"

"Vance said that her flight should arrive at ten this morning. She should have been here by now!"

The doors to autopsy slide open and in walked Vance along with Maura.

Turning around, Ducky was at a loss for words as he looked at Maura.

"Dr. Mallard, this is Dr. Maura Isles."

Maura reached out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Mallard."

Ducky shook Maura's hand his gaze fixated on her eyes. He said nothing, he just stared.

"Dr. Mallard are you okay?" asked Vance.

"Why do you ask?" questioned Ducky, unaware that he was staring at Maura, still holding her hand.

Vance cleared his throat as he gestured towards the doctor's hand causing him to break his embrace.

"Oh, I'm sorry! How terribly rude of me!"

Maura laughed. "It's okay. So you and I will be working to together to figure out if these two cases are related?"

"Yes, yes we will!" smiled Ducky, once again captivated by Maura's looks.

Vance stared at his M.E. in shock of his behavior. "I will leave you two to your work. If you need anything, Dr. Isles, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you," nodded Maura as Vance left the room. "So shall we get started, Dr. Mallard?"

"Yes, yes of course! Mr. Palmer was just putting our Petty Officer on the table. Let me just get into my scrubs and we will get started." Ducky turned to leave the autopsy room followed by his assistant.

"Dr. Mallard are you okay?" asked Palmer, as the two entered into the back room to change into their scrubs.

"I'm fine, Mr. Palmer."

"You sure? You seem a bit shaken up?"

Ducky paused. "Did you look at her, Mr. Palmer?"

"Who? Dr. Isles? Quite a looker, isn't she?"

"Yes, she is beautiful but did you really look at her?"

"What about her?"

"She looks just like her!"

"Looks just like who?"

"Like Ka…" Ducky paused.

"Are you going to be okay to do this autopsy, Doctor?"

"Yes, Mr. Palmer! I am a professional after all! Although, a stiff drink might make this a bit easier," said Ducky under his breath.

Duck and Palmer finished changing into their scrubs before they walked back into autopsy where Maura waited.

"All set?" asked Maura.

"I'm ready if you are! Where should we start?"

Maura reached into her designer bag, pulling out a folder, handing it to Ducky. "Here is my autopsy report. Maybe you would like to start there?"

"Why yes!" Ducky laid the folder on his desk, taking a few moments to look inside. "Well, I must say, Dr. Isles, you take very detailed notes!"

"Thank you!"

Ducky continued to review Maura's report.

"Is anything sticking out to you?"

"A few things. You wrote here that there was significant vaginal bruising."

"Yes, it appears she was raped more than once."

"Any unusual bruising?"

"She was so swollen it was hard to distinguish one bruise from another."

"Well, I think that the external examine is a good place for us to start!" said Ducky as he walked over to Julie Singer's body to begin his examine.

Maura and Ducky spent the better part of the day working on the autopsy of Julie Singer. While the majority of the conversation was about the body that laid on the table in front of them, Ducky couldn't help but feel an odd connection to Maura. One that he hadn't felt in quite some time.

Maura yawned.

"Are you tired, Dr. Isles?" asked Ducky.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Mallard. Flying in and doing an autopsy in the same day is quite tiresome."

"I understand," Ducky peeled off his gloves. "I think we have reached a good stopping point for today. I want for our forensic scientist to go over these samples."

"Should I be present for that?"

"No, Abigail is more than capable of handling that. You my dear, should rest! We can continue this first thing tomorrow."

"That's very sweet of you, Dr. Mallard."

"Please call me, Ducky."

"Ducky?"

"Childhood nickname. A mallard is a type of duck thus!"

"Ducky," smiled Maura. "Well, feel free to call me Maura."

"Maura it is!" Ducky once again found himself staring at Maura. "I must say I greatly enjoyed our work today. This may sound strange but I feel like I know you from somewhere."

"Maybe a medical convention? I hosted a symposium in Boston not long ago."

"No, that's not it. You…you remind me of an old friend of mine."

"Do I?"

"Yes! There is something about your eyes. They remind me of her."

"Would that be why you keep staring at me?"

Ducky laughed nervously. "Perhaps! I do apologize, it just you look exactly like her!"

"She an old flame?"

"No, not at all! She was a sweet girl but I was not at all her type!"

"What happened to her?"

Ducky put his head down. "She was killed."

Maura placed her hand over her heart. "I'm so sorry."

"It's quite already. It's been several years now, the pain has faded but the memories of her remain."

"Well, I hope they were good memories? I would hate for my resemblance to your friend to interfere with our work?"

Ducky smiled to himself. "I don't think that's going to be a problem at all!"

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you to those who have followed, favorited and reviewed this story. I greatly appreciate it!**

**Here we go! Chapter 3! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it.**

The next morning, Ducky opened the door to the coffee shop. "After you, my dear!"

Maura smiled as she walked through the door. "Thank you, Ducky. You know you didn't have to pick me up this morning."

"Your hotel is on my way to work, it was no problem!" Ducky studied the drink menu on the wall. "What would you like?"

"Hmm? Do they have green tea?"

"They do! I'm more an Earl Grey man myself! Why don't you find us a seat while I order?"

"Here, let me give you some money for my tea," Maura reached into her purse in search of some cash.

"No, this is on me!"

"Are you sure?"

"It's my pleasure! I think there may be an open seat by the window over there!"

"Thank you and I intend to repay you before I leave!" Maura disappeared into the semi-crowded coffeehouse to find a seat.

Ducky waited as the line inched forward. It seemed like hours has passed before he was able to step to the cashier. "Yes, may I have a Green Tea and Earl Grey…"

"And a half caf, half decaf Columbian Bold and a Grande half-caf double pump vanilla latte, please!"

Ducky turned to see a disheveled looking Tony standing beside him, panting. "Tony?"

"It's not for me! It's for McGee! I would never drink a latte! It's a girly drink hence why McGee drinks it!"

"What are you doing?"

"This line is ridiculous, Ducky! McGee and I are running late to take over for Gibbs and Ziva but we really need some coffee, you mind?"

Ducky turned to the cashier. "Add his order to mine!"

"Thanks!"

Ducky paid the cashier as he and Tony walked over to wait for their orders.

"What brings you here this morning, Ducky?" Tony took his cups of coffee from the barista as he and Ducky walked over to the station to add in cream and sugar.

"Oh, I offered to pick up Dr. Isles from her hotel. Thought I would get us some tea before we headed into work."

"Dr. Isles? Why does that name sound familiar?"

"She's the Chief Medical Examiner of Massachusetts, here overseeing a secondary autopsy I'm doing on a victim from a Boston Homicide case that fell into our jurisdiction."

"Anything so far?"

"A few things but have a few things to go over before we can make a call. How's the stakeout going?"

"I can't wait until we catch this guy! I am beyond tired!"

The barista handed Ducky and Tony their drink and the two headed over to the station for cream and sugar. Tony picked up the sugar dispenser pouring a steady flow into McGee cup.

"Does Timothy take that much sugar in his latte?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "How should I know? He just said he wanted sugar!"

Just then Maura walked up. "Ducky, I got us the table over by the window."

Tony dropped his coffee cup along with sugar dispenser causing coffee to splash all over him.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?"

Tony couldn't find words as he gawked at the honey blonde. "It's…it's you!" stammered Tony. "From yesterday!"

"Maura, you bumped into me in the hallway," said Maura.

"Right, right! Maura, I remember!"

"You two have met?" asked Ducky.

"We ah…We bumped into each other in the Squad Room yesterday. Vance introduced us."

"Are you okay?" asked Maura.

"Yeah! I'm fine! Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you just spilled hot coffee all over yourself."

Tony looked down at his now coffee stained work shirt. "Gotta switch to decaf!" chuckled Tony, nervously.

"Would you like me to get you another cup of coffee? Although given what just happened you might want to try tea, less caffeine."

"Ha! That's funny! Less caffeine! Um, no, I better go. I was already late now I'm really late!" Tony unknowingly put the top back on the empty coffee cup before he picked up the other cup of coffee. "It was nice meeting you again…Maura." Tony left.

Outside McGee waited impatiently in the car for Tony. "What took you so long? We're late!" spat McGee as Tony got in the car.

"I had a little run in," Tony handed McGee his cup.

McGee went to take a sip from the cup. "Tony, this is empty!"

"I said I had a run in!" Tony pointed to the stain on his shirt. "Here, you can have mine!"

"Did you get my sprinkled doughnut?"

"No, I didn't get your doughnut McGee! I think you can go one morning without picking your stupid sprinkles off your stupid doughnut!"

"What's wrong with you?"

Tony looked back at the coffee house where he could see Ducky and Maura sitting near the window talking. He quickly turned back around. "I see dead people!"

"Been watching the Sixth Sense again?"

"No, I'm serious!" Tony looked back again. "Get out the car!"

"What?"

"Get out!"

McGee got out the car and followed Tony to the back of the car.

"Now looking, without looking, look at the woman sitting with Ducky."

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Trying his best to not look suspicious, McGee looked over Tony's shoulder where he got a full view of Maura. "Holy sh…"

"I know."

"She looks just like…"

"I know. Her name Dr. Maura Isles, she's from Boston." Tony looked over his shoulder, looking at Maura again.

"If I didn't know any better, I would think she was her twin!"

"Part of me wants to go pluck one of her hairs and have Abby run it through DNA analysis."

"Let's be for real, Tony. She's gone, this is just some very strange coincidence."

"You know what Gibbs says about coincidences."

"What? You think she's her?"

"Seriously, McGee? I may have my moments but I'm level headed enough to know that that isn't possible because," Tony put his head down. "She's dead."

McGee stared at Maura. "This is so weird!"

"Tell me about it!"

McGee's phone rang. He looked at the display which read "Gibbs." "Crap, it's Gibbs! He's going to kill us! We have to go!"

Tony took one last look over his shoulder before he and McGee got in the car and drive off.

At NCIS that afternoon, Ducky slid the body of Petty Officer Julie Singer into the cooling drawer. "Rest in peace, Julie and thank you for your help."

Maura stood in awe of Ducky's gesture. "You talk to your bodies?"

"You think it's strange?"

"No, not at all. I often find speaking to the dead easier than talking to the living."

"They are much better listeners," joked Ducky.

Maura laughed. "Well, you have finished your autopsy. What do you think?"

"There are many similarities in the cases. From a pathological standpoint, I would say that we are in fact dealing with Ramirez work."

"That's great! We've identified our killer!"

"Well, not exactly. From Petty Officer Singer's autopsy, I would feel comfortable saying that we are in fact dealing Ramirez's methods of killing, I wouldn't however feel comfortable saying that this is Ramirez himself."

"So you don't think the cases are related?"

"I didn't say that! The cases are definitely related I'm just not sure if it's the same killer."

"You think the B.P.D. is dealing with a copycat?"

"I think that forensics is a better indicator of that!"

Abby was busy working away at her computer, music blaring so loud that she didn't even hear when Maura and Ducky walked into her lab.

"Does she always work like this?" shouted Maura, with her fingers in her ears.

"Yes. Surprisingly, it helps her think!" replied Ducky. "Abby!"

Abby didn't move, she just continued to nod her head to the music as she worked on her computer.

"Abby!"

No response.

Ducky walked over to the stereo, turning down the volume.

"Hey Ducky, what gives? You never turn down my music!" said Abby.

"We have a guest."

Abby turned around and came face to face with Maura. She stood in awe as she looked at her for the first time. "Ducky, pitch me."

"Why?"

"Because I want to make sure I'm not dreaming!"

"Well, seeing as how you are not currently in REM sleep, I would say it's safe to assume that you aren't dreaming," said Maura.

"Who are you?"

"Abby, this is Dr. Maura Isles."

"Hello, Abby," smiled Maura.

"Hi," Abby waved at Maura like a shy little girl. She looked over at Ducky. "She looks just like…"

Ducky smiled. "I know."

Abby couldn't help but contain her smile when she looked at Maura again.

"Is something wrong?" asked Maura as she looked down at her outfit trying to figure out why Abby was smiling.

"No, nothing is wrong! It's just really nice to meet you."

"Thank you?"

"So what can I do for you two?"

"I sent down some samples for you to test yesterday."

"Yes," said Abby turning to her computer. "I ran them and compared them to findings in the Ramirez cases."

"What did you find?" Maura stepped next to Abby to view her computer screen better.

Abby looked Maura up and down, once again smiling. "The samples Ducky pulled don't match Ramirez."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, not a match."

Maura slumped against the computer desk. "Damn, I was hoping that this would lead us to our killer. I guess B.P.D. is back at square one."

"Now, don't fret, Maura. There is an upside to this."

"And what would that be?"

"I ran a tox screen on Julie's blood and the chemical compounds in her blood, match the compounds that were found in our victims."

"GHB is a common date rape drug. We found it in all our victims."

"Not just any GBB, Rohypnol. Specifically, Hoffman-La Roche brand."

"You can distinguish the exact brand?"

"Yep! And this is the same brand used by our killer."

"Ducky said that he thought this maybe a copycat."

"Most definitely. I bet if you redo the tox screens on your other victims, you will find the same thing."

"I wish I could but our lab is only capable of identifying compounds not specific brands."

"I'd be happy to redo your tox screens for you!"

Ducky and Maura looks at Abby surprised by her willingness to help.

"You don't have to do that, Abby."

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, I'm offering!"

"You sure?"

"Yeah!"

"While Petty Officer Singer's case doesn't show certain signs from the Ramirez case, I have a feeling that some of your other victims may. Perhaps I should review your other victims' autopsy reports as well?"

"That's nice of you two but all my other files are back in Boston."

"Have them sent here!" injected Abby. Unless, you have to get back to Boston."

"No, I have another M.E. filling in for me. This case is my top priority but I would hate to hold you two up while I have them sent here!"

"Maura, we want to help!"

"Okay, I just need to call my office."

"Oh, you can use the phone in my office if you like?"

Maura smiled. "Thanks." Maura left the room leaving Ducky and Abby alone.

Abby turned to Ducky with her hand over her mouth. "Oh my god, Ducky!"

Ducky smiled. "Odd isn't it?"

"It's like looking at her all over again! It's really scary but kind of nice at the same time."

"It is rather nice, isn't it?"

"Gibbs has got to meet Maura! He will flap!"

"I don't know if that's suck a good idea."

Just then Gibbs walked in. "What's not a good idea?"

"Gibbs, oh my gosh! You're right on time! You have to meet Maura!" exclaimed Abby.

"Maura?"

"She's the M.E. from Boston that I have been working with for the past two days," explained Ducky.

"On the Ramirez case, how is that going?"

"Well, it's not Ramirez but Abby and I do think we are looking at a copycat."

Gibbs raised his eyes. "A copycat?"

"Abby and I are going to look further into Maura's cases to be sure."

"It's a Boston Homicide case now, Duck. Let the NCIS agency in Boston handle it."

"We really want to help!" said Abby.

"I need you focused on our case here!"

"We will be! We just want to help Maura and her colleagues in Boston solve this case."

"What is it about this Maura that is making you too so eager to help Boston Homicide?"

"Gibbs, you will probably think this is crazy but Maura looks exactly like…"

The sound of clicking high heels filled the room as Maura walked back into the lab. Gibbs mouth dropped open. "Kate?"

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oh a roll today! Two updates in twenty four hours! Yay me! **

**Here we go! Chapter 4! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

Gibbs stood silent as Maura came closer.

"I called my office, they are going to send my files and the blood samples first thing tomorrow morning," said Maura.

"Awesome!" replied Abby.

Maura took notice of the silver-haired man in the room. "Hello, Dr. Maura Isles." Maura extended her hand.

Gibbs took hold of the woman's hand. "Special Agent Leroy Gibbs."

"Leroy? In French that means "the king!""

"I didn't know that!" said Abby.

"Sorry, I have a bad habit of blurting out random facts."

"No, that's so cool! I guess Leroy does fit you after all, Gibbs! A king is a ruler and you are the ruler of our team, it works!"

Gibbs didn't say anything, he just looked at Maura.

"I just want you to know that I appreciate your team's help on this case, Agent Gibbs."

"Ducky was just telling me, he thinks it's a copycat," said Gibbs.

"Yes, Ducky and Abby have offered to go back over some of my case files with me. I hope that's okay?"

"As long as my cases get solved, I don't mind." Gibbs' blue eyes met Maura's sending chills up his spine. Gibbs reached into his pocket and handed Abby a flash drive. "Abby, I need you to go over these stakeout videos, run the faces."

"Okay," agreed Abby.

Gibbs looked at Maura one more time before leaving the lab.

"He's your boss?" asked Maura.

"Yep, that's our Gibbs!"

"He's a man of few words."

"Don't worry, he'll warm up to you! Trust me!"

Gibbs stormed into Vance's office. "This some kind of sick joke, Leon?"

"I beg your pardon?" asked Vance. "You know most people knock before they enter an office!"

"What? Is it time for mental evaluations or something? Is Dr. Cranston on her way? I know I wasn't exactly willing to talk about her the first time but this is a little extreme!"

"What are you talking about, Gibbs?"

"I'm talking about Maura! Why the hell did you bring her here?"

"She is the M.E. on the Boston case."

"Did you look at her?"

"What about her?"

"She looks like Kate!"

"Kate? Your dead agent?"

"This some type of set up?"

"I never meet Kate, Gibbs! How the hell should I know what she looks like?"

"So you want me to believe this is just some type of coincidence?"

"Please don't tell me that gut of yours is going again?"

"A woman shows up looking like my dead agent, yes, my gut is going to be going!"

"Maybe I should call, Cranston? Gibbs, when are you going to deal with the fact that Kate is dead? I know you feel guilty but…"

"I've dealt with it, Leon! But you explain to me why a woman who looks exactly like Kate would show up to work one of my cold cases?"

"I'm not setting you up! If I wanted to prove you were crazy, I wouldn't have to make you think you were seeing dead people to do so. I would just show them that boat in your basement! Dr. Isles is just here to do her job! You have my word on that!"

"Your word, huh?"

"You don't trust my word?"

Gibbs exited Vance's office.

Outside NCIS, Maura sat on a bench, taking in the warm spring afternoon in D.C. Tony, McGee and Ziva talked as they walked up the sidewalk right towards Maura.

Tony stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's wrong, Tony?" asked Ziva.

"It's her!" replied Tony, his eyes fixed on Maura.

"Her who?"

"Maura."

"Who is Maura?"

"Maura is a medical examiner from Boston. She also happens to look exactly like Kate," explained McGee.

"Kate? Your old partner?"

"Yeah, it's really creepy!"

Ziva studied Dr. Isles from a distance. "She is very beautiful. If she looks exactly like Kate, I see why Tony was fantasizing about her being naked."

McGee looked at Tony. "You fantasized about Kate being naked?"

"No!" exclaimed Tony. "Kate was like my sister!"

"A sister that you had fantasies about," joked Ziva.

"That was one time! And you caught me at a weak point!"

Ziva laughed. "Why don't you go say hello?"

"No, my encounters with Maura have not been the best."

"Well, you look rather odd just standing here staring at her! She's sitting alone, you should go talk to her!"

"She's right, Tony! She's obviously not Kate, what are you afraid of?" asked McGee.

"I'm not afraid!" said Tony.

"Then go talk to her! You know you want to!" encouraged Ziva.

Tony stared at Ziva for a moment before he got the courage to walk over to Maura. "Hey, Maura!"

Maura looked up at the agent. "Tony, we meet again!"

Tony laughed. "Yeah, here we are…again! What are you doing out here? Aren't you and Ducky doing that autopsy?"

"We finished, I just come out here for some air."

"What did you find?"

"Our cases are related but it's not the same killer."

"Copycat?"

"Ducky and Abby are going to help me review some of my reports to confirm it."

"So, you'll be in town a few more days?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No! No, it's not a problem! Why should I care if you stay here?"

"Because you seem very uncomfortable around me."

"No, I'm not!"

"Your facial muscles are showing signs of stress and angst."

"They are?" Tony tried to change the expression on his face cause Maura to giggle. "It must be from the stress of this case I'm working!"

"You should try meditation, it helps relieve stress and calms the mind. And H2O2 will help with that coffee stain!"

"What?"

"Hydrogen peroxide, it will get the stain out your shirt."

Tony looked down at his shirt. "Oh, that! Forgot all about it!"

Maura smiled.

Tony was staring hard at Maura, finding it hard to get over how much she looked like Kate.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because you keep staring at me! In fact, everyone keeps staring at me!"

"No, there's nothing wrong! It's just...you look a lot like my old partner."

"Your old partner? Is she the woman Ducky was telling me about?"

"Maybe, her name was Kate! Kate Todd!"

"Never heard of her."

"Of course, you haven't! But you look just like her! You know with the exception of the hair and the excellent taste in clothes! That skirt looks nice on you, by the way!"

"Thanks?"

"Wow! That has to be awkward! I just told you that you look like a dead woman!"

"It is a bit unnerving! I guess I should be flattered."

"It's definitely a compliment! She was really special to our team."

"I can tell. And I look like her, huh?"

"You do! You could be her twin!"

An awkward silence came between the two.

Tony sat down next to Maura. "Why don't we start over?" Tony extended his hand. "Tony DiNozzo, NCIS."

Maura took Tony's hand. "Dr. Maura Isles."

Tony smiled. "Nice to meet you...again. I apologized for my behavior, this is just really weird!"

"I'm sure I would act the same if I were in your shoes."

"How about I take you out to lunch? I could tell you more about Kate and you can tell me a little about yourself. Might decrease the awkwardness that has occurred between us."

Maura thought for a moment. "Sure, why not? I don't have anything to do."

Later that afternoon, Tony returned to NCIS and found McGee and Ziva busy working away at their desk.

"Well, look who finally decided to show up! Where have you been?" asked Ziva.

Tony smiled. "With Maura, I took her out to lunch, got to know her. She's a really nice woman, super smart! You know she has a genius I.Q.?"

"Which means she's too good for you!" joked McGee.

"Took her to lunch, ah? I'm guessing you have moved pass her looking like Kate?" asked Ziva.

"Not really, it still kind of freaks me out but there's just something about her. I mean I know she's not Kate but I don't know? Being around her is like being with Kate all over again, minus the insults and physical abuse! It's nice!"

"You like her!" smirked Ziva.

"I just met her."

"And you like her!"

"I'm fascinated by her!"

Gibbs walked in. "Become fascinated with this case and solve it!"

"Sorry, Boss!"

"Where were you, DiNozzo?"

"I was with Dr. Isles, I took her out to lunch."

Gibbs looked at Tony. "You were with Dr. Isles?"

"You've seen her, huh?"

"Yeah, I've seen her."

"I mean get over the fact she looks exactly like Kate, she's really nice, Gibbs. You should talk to her, I think you would like her!"

"I don't think so."

Tony took note of Gibbs' expression. "Something wrong?"

"You be careful around her, Tony."

Tony looked at Gibbs shocked. "What? Why"

"Something doesn't feel right here, keep your distance."

"She's harmless, Boss."

"I don't care, watch yourself with her."

**What do you think? Looks like Gibbs has some apprehensions about Maura, you think he may be on to something? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-) (things are about to get interesting)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here we go! Chapter 5! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it**

Usually, Tony was one to follow orders. Gibbs' words and rule were the law but this was one order he just couldn't seem to follow. There was something about Dr. Maura Isles, something that caused Tony to completely disregard Gibbs' warning and further his acquaintance with the Boston M.E. She was in town for a week and every day that week, Tony spent time with the M.E. and Gibbs was well aware of it.

Gibbs stared at the computer screen, the online newspaper headline read "Professional Frienemies" with a picture of Maura storming out of a warehouse, a tall brunette behind her. It was the fifth article he had read that that day about the Boston M.E., he has lost count of how many he had read since she arrived in D.C. A simple internet search of her name brought up articles dating back to her days as a promising med student at Boston Cambridge University and he read every one, looking for something to settle the nagging feeling in his stomach but he come up empty. His search through AFIS, showed the picture perfect citizen that was Maura Dorthea Isles and the call to Boston Homicide, only further contradicted his apprehensions. He hated to admit it but it was possible that he was wrong about Maura but still he couldn't shake the feeling in his gut that something was not right.

"Let it go, Gibbs! There's nothing there."

Gibbs looked up and there stood Vance.

"Just face the facts, you were wrong about Maura."

"I still don't trust it."

"She's been here a week, Gibbs and all she has done is work this case and go to her hotel. Nothing suspicious about it."

"She's managed to get pretty close to DiNozzo in the last week too."

"I don't think Dr. Isles is the one to blame for that. We both know how Tony is."

"This could still be a part of some type of set up."

"Mental evaluations were two months ago, Gibbs and amazingly, you passed! So relax!"

The elevator dinged and Maura got off. Gibbs once again felt chills run down his spine as she watched the woman who was an exact replica of Kate approach him and Vance.

"Dr. Isles, everything alright?" asked Vance.

"Yes," replied Maura. "Ducky, Abby and I have finished our work for the day. I wanted to head back to my hotel but I've been calling Agent Williams but she's not answering."

Vance rolled his eyes. "Of course, she isn't. Have you tried Agent Levi?"

"He told me to call Williams."

"I apologize for those two. I'll see if I can find her." Vance retreated to his office leaving Maura alone with Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs," nodded Maura.

"Dr. Isles," replied Gibbs, trying hard not to stare at Maura as she stood in front of his desk. "How is your case going?"

"Almost done going over everything."

"That's good. Hopefully, this will help you find this guy."

"Hopefully but while the science is usefully, it won't actually help Boston Homicide locate whoever is doing this."

"Are you trying to ask me something, Dr. Isles?"

Maura smiled. "Being that you were the lead investigator on the original case, you would have better insight on the actually investigative side of things. I was hoping that maybe you could go over some of your findings? Maybe you have some information on the killer that could help?"

"I'm working a case right now, Dr. Isles."

"I know! And I'm not trying to take you away from your work but maybe if you get a free moment?"

"I can't make any promises."

"Of course not! Just, if you get the chance."

Vance returned. "Dr. Isles, Agent Williams is waiting for you downstairs, I'll walk you out."

"Thank you, Director Vance. I'll see you tomorrow, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs smiled as Maura turned to walk back to the elevators just as Tony rounded the corner. "Oh, hello Tony!"

"Hey Maura!" smiled Tony as Maura walked past him.

"What a part of keep your distance don't you get, DiNozzo?"

Tony hesitated. "I'm just being nice."

"I'm not kidding, Tony! I want you to be careful around her!"

"No offense, Gibbs but rule 51."

Gibbs stared at Tony. "Did you get the guy?"

"Yeah, Ziva is getting everything set up in interrogation."

Gibbs got up. "Good, let's get this confession and close this case."

"I'm on your six, Boss! I just need to go downstairs and…"

"Maura went to her hotel for the night."

"I wasn't going to see Maura!"

"Sure you weren't?"

At her hotel, Maura had showered and changed into her green silk pajamas before settling into bed to watch a documentary on the History Channel. Her cell phone buzzed. "Isles."

"Please tell me that you have finished working on that case and you will be on your way back to Boston first thing tomorrow?" said the raspy, female voice on the other line.

"What's wrong, Jane?"

"What do you think is wrong?"

"What has Pike done now?"

"Frost and I are currently standing in the lab waiting for Pike to run a damn gun residue test so we can know whether the body we found was a suicide or a homicide so we can go home!"

"Science cannot be rushed, Detective Rizzoli! I want to ensure that my findings are precise which means I must be precise!" said Dr. Pike in the background.

"I'm not rushing science, I'm rushing you! Seriously Maura, no other M.E. could fill in for you?"

"Pike is the best I have."

"I'm not sure about that? So you got anything new for me?"

"Not yet. I asked the lead navigator if he would mind going over his notes to see if he had any useful information so hopefully I will have something for you soon." There was a knock at Maura's room door. "Hold on, Jane. Someone is at the door." Maura got up and walked over to the door.

"Who is it?"

"I don't know?" Maura looked through the peephole to see a male, hotel employee standing on the other side of her door. She opened the door. "Yes?"

"Room service," said the man, a thick, Middle Eastern accent ringing through his voice.

"No, I didn't order room service," replied Maura,

The man stared at Maura. "Room service!"

"No, no room service!"

The man pushed the cart through the door, placing it in the middle of the room.

"I didn't order room service! Please take that with you!"

"Room service!" The man smiled as he left the room.

"Okay?" Maura closed the door.

"What did you order from room service?" said Jane.

"I didn't order anything! I have no idea what this is," Maura was about to reach for the plate cover when there was another knock at the door. "Hold on, Jane. Someone else is at the door." Maura looked through the peephole and to her surprise there stood Tony. Maura opened the door.

"Hey Maura," smiled Tony.

"Tony? What are you doing here?"

"Tony? Who's Tony?" asked Jane on the phone.

"Didn't wake you, did I?" asked Tony.

"No, I was just watching TV," replied Maura.

"Can I come in?"

"No, he can't! Who the hell is Tony, Maura?" asked Jane.

"Sure," Maura stepped aside letting Tony in the room.

"Maura, who is Tony?"

"Jane, let me call you back!"

"No wait, who is Tony?"

Maura hung up. "Okay, lunch and coffee are one thing but I don't know if it's appropriate for you to be showing up at my hotel room. I'm supposed to be here working on a case."

"It's not like I'm here on a booty call, Maura! We didn't get to have coffee or lunch together today so I thought maybe you would like to come have dinner with me?"

"Dinner?"

"I wasn't thinking anything fancy. There's this great little lounge I know, I think you will like it!"

"I already had dinner."

"You're kidding?" Tony walked over to the room service tray. "What did you have?" Tony left the lid and stared at what laid on the plate.

"I didn't order that! Room service made a mistake and brought that here. I had a salad earlier."

Tony closed the lid. "So have a glass of wine or something? Come on!"

"Why are you doing this, Tony?"

"Cause I'm hungry! Thought you might be hungry too."

"I mean why are you spending so much time with me?"

"Because I find you to be a very beautiful and smart woman and someone who I would like to know better?"

Maura looked at Tony. "You sure it doesn't have to do with me looking like Kate?"

"No!"

"Because I'm not Kate, Tony. And I really don't like the fact that you are trying to use me to fill the void she left!"

"I'm not trying to fill a void, Maura. Yes, being with you is like having Kate here all over again and I like that feeling but I am well aware that you aren't Kate and you could never be Kate. My being around you is because I like you! And I do want to get to know _you_ better!"

Maura tilted her head. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! So will you have dinner with me? Please? I'm starving!"

Maura smiled. "I have to meet with Abby and Ducky early in the morning and if you haven't noticed, I'm in my pajamas!"

"I did notice and those are very nice P.J's! Just throw on some clothes! I promise I will have you back in time to get plenty of beauty sleep, not that you need it!"

"Okay, I just need time to change."

"Great! I'll meet you downstairs."

Maura entered into the bathroom closing the door behind her. Tony waited a moment before walking back over to the room service tray. Lifting the lid, he stared at contents again. Looking over his shoulder to see if Maura was still in the bathroom, he picked it up and placed it in his pocket before leaving the room.

Tony waited nervously outside for Maura to arrive. As she walked through the revolving doors of the hotel, he was taken aback by how good she looked in her skinny jeans, blue top and black leather jacket. Her blonde curls laid softly against her shoulders while some were pulled back into a ponytail giving Tony a full view of her face.

"Wow, you look great!" smiled Tony.

"Thank you," replied Maura.

"My car is around the corner."

Tony and Maura walked down the street and rounded the corner. The sound of popping in the distance caused Tony to look over his shoulder as he noticed a car speeding up the street. The glare of a gun coming from the driver's side window caused Tony to grab Maura, pulling her into an alleyway as shots started to ring out as the car sped around the corner.

Tony looked at Maura, her front pressed against his, her back against the wall. "You okay?"

Maura was breathing heavy. "Yeah, I'm fine! What happened?"

"Wait, here!" Tony pulled out his gun and slowly crept out the alleyway. Looking left and right, the street was empty. Tony reached out and took Maura's hand. "We need to get out of here! Come on, my car is right across the street!"

Tony and Maura were halfway across the street before the sound of screeching tires and a roaring engine filled the air. In the shadow of a fast approaching vehicle, Tony wrapped himself around Maura, tackling her to the ground and out the way of the car as it raced down the street. Tony managed to let off a few shots, breaking the back window of the car before it drove off into the night.

"Maura, get in the car!"

Maura didn't say anything.

Tony looked down to the ground where Maura laid under him. "Maura?"

She didn't move.

"Maura?"

No response.

Tony ran his hand down the side of her face, feeling the warm liquid that ran down the side of her face. "Shit! Maura!"

**Oh snap! What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Here we go! Chapter 6! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

"DiNozzo!" Skylar came running from behind a car, gun drawn. "DiNozzo, you okay?"

"Call 911, Williams!" shouted Tony, kneeling next to Maura's still body.

"I saw everything! She okay?"

"I pushed her out the way! It think she hit head on something, there's blood." Tony leaned his ear close to Maura's face to hear shallow breaths escape her nose. "She's breathing."

Skylar dialed her phone. "I need an ambulance at the corner of Washington and Kennedy, we've had a near hit and run. A woman is unconscious with blood coming from the side of her head." Skylar hung up the phone.

Tony looked down at Maura who still hadn't move. "Damn, this is a lot of blood!" The sight in front of Tony felt all too familiar. Maura laying there, motionless, blood coming from her head, all that was missing was the spot where the bullet pierced her forehead.

The sound of sirens came from the distance as red flashing lights took over the darkness. Tony shook his head refocusing his thoughts as the paramedic rushed over to tend to Maura. Tony got out the way allowing the paramedics to help Maura, frozen by the sight that laid before him.

In the emergency room, Tony sat in the waiting room as doctors worked on Maura.

Skylar approached him. "Hey, maybe you should be seen too? Those are pretty bad scrapes you got there!"

His mind focused on Maura, he hadn't notice the bleeding scrapes on the back of his hand where he fell on the ground with Maura in hand. "I'm okay."

"Tony!" Gibbs' voice seemed to make the room shake as he rushed towards Tony along with Vance. "What happened?"

"There were gun shots, I tried to get Maura to my car but a car came flying down the street before we made it. I pushed her out the way and she must have hit her head on the ground," replied Tony.

"Shots? Dr. Isles wasn't hit was she?" asked Vance.

"No."

"Plates?"

"I got part of them, sir," replied Skylar.

"Did you see shooter? The driver?"

"It was dark."

"What were you two doing at Dr. Isles' hotel anyway?" asked Vance.

"I was delivering some case notes Agent Gibbs wanted her to have," explained Skylar.

"Tony?"

Tony took a deep breath. "I was visiting."

"Visiting?"

"We were heading out to dinner."

Gibbs looked at Tony with a disappointed look on his face.

"Williams, go put out a B.O.L.O.," said Vance.

"Yes, sir," replied Skylar, leaving the three men.

"Spare me the lecture. I know the rules, Gibbs," said Tony, gazing straight ahead.

"Then why are you breaking them?"

Tony was quiet.

"I don't want you losing sight of things because of her."

A doctor walked out. "Are you all here for Maura Isles?"

"Yes, how is she?" asked Tony.

"Well, she's unconscious still. She took a fairly hard hit to the head when she hit the ground. She is stable and there is no sign of swallowing to the brain."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"We won't know until she wakes up."

"How long will that take?" asked Gibbs.

"However long it takes for the brain to recover from the impact. We will monitor her and give you call when she wakes up."

"If it's okay, I want to stay with her," said Tony.

Gibbs looked at the younger agent.

"That's fine," the doctor returned to the back.

"Go home, Tony," said Gibbs.

"I need to say with Maura!"

"No, you need to go home and get some rest so you will be ready to open the investigation into this if need be! Now go home!"

Tony gave Gibbs a cold look before heading for the exit.

Vance approached Gibbs. "What has gotten into him?"

"Maura! You think this was targeted?"

"Now hold on, Gibbs! We don't know what happened yet! Don't start jumping to conclusions!"

Vance and Gibbs shared a look.

Skylar walked up. "I put out the B.O.L.O."

"Good, I want you two to stay with Dr. Isles at all times. Call us as soon as she wakes up."

"Yes, Agent Gibbs."

Gibbs and Vance left.

Tony walked into the hospital room where Maura laid still unconscious in bed, a large bandage wrapped around her head. Skylar sat in a chair at the end of the bed, her head resting on her arm as she slept sitting up.

"Williams?" whispered Tony.

"Huh?" gasped Skylar, unmoved.

"She's still not awake?"

Skylar yawned as she stretched in the chair. "Nope, maybe if you hadn't of tackled her like you were trying out for linebacker on the Redskins, she would be!"

Tony cut his eyes at Skylar.

"Sorry, that wasn't funny. What are you doing here? It's three in the morning!"

"Couldn't sleep. Go home, I got this."

"Orders from Gibbs, I'm supposed to stay with Maura the entire time until she wakes up."

"I'll stay with her for a while. You go home, grab a shower, and get you something to eat, come back in a few hours,"

"Are you sure? I don't want Gibbs to fire me for not following orders."

"As a senior field agent, I will cover for you."

"Okay," Skylar exited the room, leaving Tony with Maura.

Tony walked over and stood beside Maura's bed, looking down on her. "Nice job, DiNozzo. You meet a nice woman and you knock her out cold! Although, you still look amazing, even with that bandage wrapped around your head, Maura!" Tony laughed to himself, running his hands through his hair "I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come sit with you. We aren't supposed to get personally involved on the job but this is one of those times where I can't help it. When you were laying on the ground, with blood coming out your head like that, it was like déjà vu. That's the last memory I have of Kate and I try not to think about her like that but seeing you like that was like losing her all over again." Tony sat on the edge of the bed. "I don't know why you came here, Maura Isles, maybe it's by chance? Maybe this is God trying to teach me something? Heck, this might be Kate up there playing some kind of trick on me!" Tony looked to the ceiling. "If it is, good one, Kate! But you are really hitting me in a weak spot here so if you could stop now because…"

"Tony?"

Tony looked down and Maura struggling to open her eyes under the bright light over her head. "Maura, you're up!"

"Who's Maura," said Maura, groggy.

Tony looked to the ceiling again. "Funny Kate!"

"Who are you talking to?"

"No one. How you feeling Maura?"

"Who is Maura?"

"You are!"

"What are you talking about, DiNozzo? My name is not Maura!"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Oh crap! I gave you amnesia!"

Maura closed eyes tightly, pulling her hand to her head, whimpering in pain.

"You okay?"

"My head is killing me!" Maura fell back in bed, her hand still on her head.

"Hang on, Maura! I'm going to go get the doctor!"

Tony ran out the room and returned with the doctor. The doctor sat on the edge of the bed and shined a light into Maura's eyes. "How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts!"

"Do you know where you are?"

"A hospital."

"Yes, you are in a hospital. Do you know how you got here?"

"I'm guessing Tony had something to do with it!"

"I'm sorry, Maura," replied Tony.

"My name isn't Maura!"

The doctor looked at Tony. "Yes, it is!"

"No, it's not! My name is…" Maura paused before she sat up in bed, one hand gripped around her stomach as she reached for the bedpan, emptying her stomach into it."

"That's from the head injury," said the doctor, pulling back Maura's hair.

"She doesn't remember her name," said Tony.

"Selective amnesia. It can happen with concussions, patience forget certain pieces of information for a period of time."

"Can I please get something for this headache?" pleaded Maura, her eyes tightly shut, as she dry heaved into the bedpan.

"Sure, let me see about getting you some aspirin."

The doctor left the room and Tony approached Maura. "Maura, you okay?"

"For the last time, my name is not Maura!"

"Okay, you're name isn't Maura. So, what should I call you then?"

Maura rolled her eyes. "Kate is fine!"

Tony laughed. "Man, I must I hit you really hard! You're name isn't Kate. It's Maura, Maura Isles."

"Are you sure you aren't the one with the head injury? My name is Kate! You know that!"

Maura was looking Tony dead in the eyes, face stern. He had seen this look before, only one person had ever looked at him like that. He froze as an odd feeling took over him. "Kate?"

"What?"

Tony sat on the bed, never breaking his eye contact with Maura. "You just said you're name is Kate."

The sternness in Maura's face began to fade as a lost look took its place. "Kate? My name is Maura."

The doctor walked back in with a tiny plastic cup with two pills in it. "Maura, I want you to take these aspirin and then lay back and try to rest."

Maura and Tony continued to stare at one another.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," replied Tony, though he wasn't really sure.

"Perhaps, you should go now, sir? Give Maura a chance to rest? Why don't you come back in a few hours?"

Tony stood up. "Sure. I'll come back." Tony made his way towards the door pausing to take on more look at Maura before he left.

**Whoa! What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Here we go! Chapter 7! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

Tony returned to the hospital a few hours later. Maura sat in bed, looking far more alert as she ate a breakfast of fruit, yogurt and orange juice. Tony knocked on the open door.

Maura looked up to see the agent at the door and a smiled crossed her face. "Tony!"

Tony couldn't help but smile back at her. "Mind if I come in?"

Maura gestured towards the chair at the end of the bed. "Please!"

Tony walked in and sat down. "You seem to be feeling better?"

"Given the grade 3 MTBI, I experienced, I would say so!"

Tony was confused.

"Minor traumatic brain injury. You probably know it better as a concussion."

"Yeah, right! I knew that! Guess that knock to the head didn't scramble your brain to much!"

Maura laughed.

"You're not nauseous anymore?"

Maura looked at the food in front of her. "I still feel a bit queasy but my doctor insisted that I eat something. While I generally prefer organic, it's not too bad for hospital food! Would you like some?"

"No, I'm good."

Silence came between the pair.

"I guess we never made it to dinner?"

"No, no we didn't. The car zooming at us at fifty miles an hour kind of ruined that!"

"I guess I owe you a thank you for saving my life."

"Free of charge. I'm a cop, it's my job to serve and protect. I'm just glad you are doing better. You had me scared this morning!"

"My doctor said I was a bit disoriented this morning."

"Disoriented? You had no idea who you were! You told me that your name was Kate."

"I did?"

"Yeah, and you were serious too! For a minute there, you had me believing you were actually Kate. You called me DiNozzo and the look you gave me…only Kate ever looked at me like that."

"My brain must have recalled the conversations we had about Kate and in trying to remember my name I must have said hers instead."

"Yeah, that was probably it."

"Sorry, if I scared you. I ensure you my memory is fully recovered!"

"I sure hope so. So when can you leave?"

"Later today, that is if I can keep this food down."

"Guess you are ready to catch the first thing back to Boston after what happened last night."

"While I am anxious to go home after this incident, I haven't been cleared to fly for another week. Have to give my head some time to heal."

"Yeah, that's a pretty gnarly bandage you are sporting!"

Maura laughed. "I look like a Bugs Bunny cartoon."

"I think it looks nice. Not many people could pull that off like you do."

Maura blushed. "Thank you."

"You let your hotel know you will be staying longer?"

"I don't know if I'm comfortable going back there. Not after what happened."

"We are going to find whoever is behind this. You have nothing to worry about."

Maura was quiet.

"If you really don't feel comfortable staying there, I'm sure NCIS could provide you with some protection detail."

"I don't want to cause a fuss."

"No fuss! Plus, you're going to need someone to take care of you while you recover."

"Are you offering?"

"Maybe?"

Gibbs walked through the door. "Hope, I'm not interrupting."

"Boss?" said Tony, nervously. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you, figured I would find you here. I've been calling but you haven't been answering."

Tony cringed. "I feel a head slap coming on."

"Already one person in the hospital with a severe concussion, sure they don't want another." The look in Gibbs eyes let Tony know he wasn't kidding. "How are you doing, Dr. Isles?"

"Better aside from the excruciating headache," replied Maura.

"Glad to see you are okay. Know we are doing all we can to find whoever did this."

"I was just telling Maura that. She is a bit apprehensive about going back to her hotel after what happened," said Tony.

"You have nothing to worry about Maura. You are in no immediate danger," reassured Gibbs. "Unless there is something we should know about?"

"I have nothing to hide, Agent Gibbs. This came as just as much a shock to me as it did to you."

"Of course."

"I told Maura that we could assign an agent to her for protection if she likes," said Tony.

"Did you, DiNozzo? I bet you even volunteered?"

Tony searched for a response but come up with nothing.

"Would you excuse us for a moment please, Maura?" Gibbs and Tony walked into the hallway, away from where Maura could hear. "Stay with Maura."

Tony was shocked. "Really?"

"Yes, keep an eye on her. Anything suspicious happens you let me know."

"What's going on?"

"I don't think what happened last night was random."

"You think someone is after her?"

"The tire marks started at the curb, Tony. The car that tried to hit you wasn't the same car that was firing shots! That car was parked, waiting."

"Are we relocating her?"

"I don't think they will be dumb enough to strike in the same place twice. Stay with her and report back to me every few hours." Gibbs walked away.

Tony ran his hands through his hair as an unsure smile crossed his face. He walked back in Maura's room.

"Everything okay?" asked Maura

"Yeah, Gibbs was just updating me on the case."

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, you have just been assigned a protection detail."

"Who?"

"Me!"

"You are my protection deal?"

"Don't sound too excited about it."

Maura giggled. "Sorry. I'm just glad someone will be staying with me."

"Yes, I am going to be taking care of you, I'm sorry, protecting you, the next few days."

Tony stayed with Maura until the doctor okayed her to be released later that afternoon. He drove her straight back to her hotel and held firmly to Maura's arm as he helped her up to her room.

"Tony, you know you can let go of my arm, my equilibrium is perfectly fine," said Maura, walking to her hotel room with Tony on her side.

"Can never be too cautious," replied Tony.

"I'm okay, Tony."

Tony released Maura's arm. "Okay, your doctor said you need to rest so to bed you go!"

"I will but first I'm going to grab a shower."

"You think that's a good idea? What if you pass out in the shower or something? I should stay with you…"

Maura just looked at Tony.

"That didn't come out right. You can manage a shower on your own, I'll just wait out here."

"Good idea," said Maura as she walked into the bathroom.

After showering, Maura changed into a red and white Boston homicide softball shirt, a pair of baggy gray sweatpants, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. She emerged from the bathroom to see Tony, sitting on the edge of the bed watching TV.

"Nice shirt! Didn't know you played softball?" said Tony, admiring how amazing Maura looked even when wearing sweat clothes.

"I don't. Jane gave this to me as an apology gift after she wouldn't let me and my follow forensic colleagues play on their softball team," replied Maura, sitting down next to Tony.

Tony noticed a hint of pain in Maura's face. "You alright?"

"Yeah, my headache is coming back. I shouldn't have tried to wash my hair while I was in the shower," Maura rubbed her temples.

"What can I do?"

"Some aspirin would be nice."

"There's a drug store down the street, want me to go get you some."

"Please?"

"Okay. Why don't you try laying down see if that helps," Tony grabbed his jacket and left.

Resting her head in her hands, Maura could feel the pain in her head intensifying. In too much pain to move, she curled up at the bottom of the bed, a subtle ringing growing louder in her ears. She closed her eyes trying to ignore the noise but only seemed to increase. She placed her hands over her ears, clenching her eyes tighter together. Though her eyes were closed, blocking out all light, she could see flashes of light, like the flash of a camera. The sensory overload nearly made her scream.

The flashing stopped.

_She opened her eyes and saw that she was standing in the autopsy room at NCIS. The room was dark aside from a solitary light shining down on a cover body lying on an autopsy table. "How did I get here?" She hears footsteps coming from the distance. "Who's there?"_

_A tall, slender man, with an olive complex wearing a black leather jacket, black shirt and black pants ascended from the shadows._

"_Who are you?"_

_The man let out sinister laugh. "You know who I am," said the man with an Israeli accent, slowly approaching Maura._

_Maura turned to run when the man grabbed her by the arm, twisting it behind her back, pulling her close to him. _

"_Where do you think you're going?" _

_Maura was speechless as the man looked her deep in the eyes._

"_You know we can change many things about ourselves but the eyes, the eyes are always a dead giveaway. Yes, the eyes can get us into a lot of trouble."_

"_What do you want?"_

"_Don't worry, all will be revealed soon enough. But in the meantime," The man looked at the covered body. "Why don't you take a look under that sheet?" _

_Maura turned her head away as the man pulled back the sheet._

"_Don't be afraid! Look!"_

_Maura took a deep breath slowly turned her head to look at the body that laid on the table. It was as if she had looked into a mirror. Their builds were identical, their faces were identical. The only difference was the dark lock that laid on the dead woman's shoulders. Maura looked at the man. "Who is she?"_

"_What? You don't recognize yourself…Caitlin."_

_At the sound of the name, Maura felt herself coming undone. She looked down at the woman lying on the table. "No, that's not me! I'm not Caitlin! I'm Maura! You have me mistaken!"_

"_The charade is over, Maura. It's time to wake up!"_

_Just then dead woman's eyes opened. Maura felt all the breath escape her body as she looked into the woman's eyes. Panicking, she fought against the man's grip. "Let me go! Let me go!"_

_The man just laughed._

"_Let me go! Let me go! Let me…" The sensation of the hand on her shoulder caused her to jump._

Maura gasped. She opened her eyes and there sat Tony, his hand resting on her shoulder.

"Whoa! Calm down! It's just me!" said Tony, helping Maura sit up. "You were having a bad dream."

Maura could feel the color drain from her face as her breathing became heavier and heavier. Maura jumped up and rushed over to the bathroom where she fell onto the floor, vomiting in the toilet.

Tony was right behind her, pulling her hair out the way. "You okay?"

Maura took a few moments to gather herself before she flushed the toilet and rinsed out her mouth in the sink. "I'm fine. This headache is just upsetting my stomach."

Tony rushed out the room, and grabbed the aspirin he had just purchased. He returned and handed Maura a pill. "Here, maybe this will help."

Maura quickly downed the pill. Looking in the mirror, she felt chills as she looked at the woman looking back at her.

"Here, let me help you back to bed." Tony wrapped his arm around Maura waist, holding her up as he escorted her back to the bed to sit down. He kneeled down in front of her, looking into her hazel eyes as tears rolled down her face. "Maura, don't cry."

"What is happening to me?" whispered Maura.

"You have a concussion, Maura. Your brain is doing funny things right now trying to get back right. You'll be okay."

Maura shook her head. "I'm not okay. This is not okay."

Tony pulled back the covers. "Here lay down."

"No, I'm not going back to sleep."

"Maura, it was just a bête noir. It wasn't real."

"This wasn't one of your stupid vampire dreams, DiNozzo!"

Tony froze, it was that look again. "How did you know about the vampires?"

"What?"

"My childhood nightmares about vampires, how did you know about that?"

"You told me."

"No, I didn't. I've only told one person about my vampire nightmares and it wasn't you."

"Yes, you did. You told me about the vampires the same day Ari snuck into autopsy!"

"No, the only person I ever told about that was Kate and…" Tony paused. "Ari? How do you know about Ari?" Tony backed away from Maura.

"Tony, what's wrong?"

"You just said I told you about my nightmare on the same day that Ari snuck into autopsy. There's no way you should know about Ari! Who are you?"

"Tony, please don't do this right now! My head is killing me!"

Tony rose to his feet, pulling his gun from the holster pointing it straight at Maura. "What is going on here? Who are you? Who are you working for?"

Maura put her head in her hands. "Tony, stop yelling!"

"You think this is a game? I am not afraid to shoot a woman! Now start talking!"

"You would never shot me, DiNozzo! Now put the gun down!"

Tony grip tightened around the gun. "Who…are…you?"

The woman sighed. "I'm Kate."

"That's it! You have until the count of three to identify yourself before I put a bullet right through your heart! One…Two…Thr…"

Maura threw her hands down, looking straight at Tony. "I'm Kate, Tony!"

His investigative training told him all he needed to know. She never moved, her eyes remained center, her tone of voice never changed. He felt the gun shake within his now unsteady grip. Her words were as good as gold. "You are Kate."

**Boom! What? Maura is really Kate! What is going on? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Here we go! Chapter 8! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. **

Despite the trembling in his hands, Tony kept his gun pointed the woman.

"Tony, put the gun down," said Maura, or Kate rather.

"Not until you start talking."

"It's me, Tony."

"I got that part. The part I don't understand is how is that possible?"

"The impact from my concussion must have jostled my hippocampus reactivating some part of my memory that has somehow caused this sudden revelation. But you have to believe me when I tell you that I'm Kate Todd!"

"Prove it!"

"What?"

"Prove it! You claim to be Kate Todd! Prove it!"

"Okay, um, my birthday is August 10, I'm five foot, seven…"

"General information isn't going to work here lady! Anyone could just pull out a record and find that out! Prove to me you are Kate Todd!"

"I can't!"

"You can't? Good one!"

"I can't remember anything about myself other than that!"

Tony gripped his gun tighter. "That's it! Get on the floor, hands behind your back!"

"No, wait!" Kate closed her eyes, trying to think. "You! Your fraternity nickname was Sex Machine!"

Tony lowered his gun. "What did you say?"

"Sex Machine! They called you Sex Machine."

Tony's eyes never the woman's as he re-holster his gun. Tony nervously approached the bed sitting down across from Kate. Looking her up and down. "What the hell is happening?"

Kate breathed a sigh of relief. "You believe me?"

"I shouldn't, but I do! You really are Kate! I can't believe it's you! You're alive, you're not…" Tony jumped back. "Oh no! It's happened!"

"What happened? What's wrong with you?"

"I've lost my mind! I've turned into Cole Sear!"

"Who's Cole Sear?"

"Cole Sear! Haley Joel Osment! The Sixth Sense! "I see dead people!"

"Is everything a movie to you?"

"They say too much time on the job can go to your head but this! This is insane! You're dead! Or at least you should be dead." Tony got up and started pacing the room. "I saw you get shot in the head and here you are talking to me!"

"What are you rambling about?"

"May 24, 2005, the day Gibbs and I watched a bullet go through your head standing on top of that roof!"

"Tony, I have no idea what you are talking about! And honestly, you are starting to scare me!"

"Join the club! I'm talking to a dead chick!"

"Tony, I'm not dead! I'm sitting right here!"

"Yeah but you shouldn't be!"

"You're telling me that I'm dead? This isn't making any sense!"

"Got that right!"

Kate pulled her knees to her chest. "This must be a bad dream or something!"

"Ohm you aren't dreaming!"

"I have no recollection of any of this! Why can't I remember?"

"I don't know Kate, you tell me! You are the one who has decided to rise from the dead!"

"Maybe this is a D.I.D. episode?"

"Did?"

"Dissociative Identity Disorder. It's a mental disorder where a person has multiple, dissociated personality states that alternately control a person's behavior. A distinct trait of the disorder is that a person is unable to remember what happened from one personality to the next. But the disorder is usually brought on by some type of traumatic event. Not head injuries."

"Okay, going to have to kill the Maura talk if you want me to believe that you are Kate!" Tony snapped his finger. "A Long Kiss Goodnight!"

"What?"

"It's a movie starring Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson. Geena's character suffers complete amnesia and when her memory is restored she finds out she is an ex-CIA assassin and set out to complete her unfinished mission."

"Would you stop with the movie references, you jackass!"

"Okay, now you sound like Kate."

"This is serious, Tony! What if something bad has happened?"

"Clearly something had happened here, the question is what?"

Kate began to tremble.

Tony stopped mid-pace, noticing a distressed Kate on the bed. "Please don't tell me you are about to have a seizure or something?"

"What happened to me, Tony? Why can't I remember who I was? Who I am? And why do you think I'm dead?"

"I have no idea."

"I'm scared, Tony."

Tony sat down next to her. "We will get to the bottom of this, okay? I promise! Just calm down. I believe you, okay."

Kate nodded, closing her eyes and running her temples.

"Head hurting, huh?"

"Yeah."

Tony pulled back the covers. "Here lay down. Are you hungry? I can get you something?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Well, try to rest. I'll be sitting right over there."

"I can't sleep, not after this."

"You don't have to sleep, just lay down. All this can't be good for your concussion."

"Will you sit with me?"

Tony raised his eyebrow. "You want me to sit with you?"

"Get your mind out the gutter, DiNozzo! I just woke up from a nightmare only to find out I'm now living one. What if I fall asleep and it happens again?"

"I'm going to be right over there. I'll wake you up!"

"No, I want you right here. Please?"

"Okay, I'll sit with you."

Kate slid over in bed allowing Tony to lay back next to her in bed. Tony laid still on the edge of the bed, his arms folded over his chest, unsure of exactly what was happening. He looked over at Kate, who curled up next to him leaving plenty of space between them. While her eyes were open, Tony could see that Kate was tired. "Go to sleep, Kate."

Kate shook her head no, fear reading on her face.

Tony nervously reached over and wrapped his arm around her should her shoulder, pulling her close to him, to his amazement she, did pull away. "I'm right here. Nothing will happen to you. Not again at least! Not if I have anything to do with it!"

Kate yawned as her body relaxed. Several minutes later, she was sound asleep in Tony's arm.

Tony sighed as he looked down on her. "Gibbs told you not to get involved, DiNozzo. You should have listened!"

The next morning, Kate awoke to the faint smell of coffee permeating through the room. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she sat up to find Tony sitting in the desk chair at the end of the bed, watching her.

"Morning Kate! You are Kate, aren't you?" asked Tony.

Kate stretched. "Yes Tony."

"Just checking. How's your head?"

"Still throbbing. How long have you been up?"

"Few hours. You started snoring so it was kind of hard to get any sleep but at least you got some rest" Tony pointed to two cups sitting on the side table. "Coffee or green tea, your pick."

Kate blushed as she reached over and picked up the cup of tea.

"Hmm?"

"What?"

"Drinking green tea instead of coffee. That's very Maura."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing, just an observation. Trying to figure all this out. You know exactly where Maura came from? Whether she is a character of sorts or if she is really a part of you."

"What have you come up with so far?"

"Looking at the past week you have been here as Maura, you have never once showed one sign of Kate. I don't think this is some act, when you were Maura, you were Maura. I don't care how much undercover work you do, some part of your actual person comes through whether it's mannerisms or subtle terminology. Kate and Maura are two totally different people."

"That may explain why I still continue to display some of Maura's characteristics. My amnesia must be retrograde."

Tony just looked at Kate.

"Retrograde amnesia is when you can't recall memories prior to a specific event but everything after that you remember."

"Right? I knew that! So I guess we need to figure out what the event was."

"That would be a good start."

"What do you remember about Kate?"

"Nothing other than the general."

"You have no memories? Childhood, teen years, college?"

"No."

"Okay, what's you earliest memory of Maura? Maybe that will tell us something."

Kate thought for a moment before she started to smile. "Sitting at the Musee d'Orsay."

"The what de who?"

"The Musee d'Orsay, it's a museum in Paris. I use to go there when I was in college."

"College? You're earliest memories of Maura are from college? That can't be? You would have been Kate then not Maura."

"But I have vivid memories of just sitting in front of it and staring at it."

"At a building?"

"Yes! You've never done that before?"

"Can't say I have. You use to stare at a building? What's the D.I.D. thing again? Maybe this is mental!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "It's a beautiful piece of artwork."

"I'll remember that the next time I'm in France. But that still doesn't explain how you have memories of Maura in college when she didn't exist then."

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "Often with people suffering from amnesia, seeing familiar sights or hearing familiar sounds helps jog the memory. Even smells can be useful in memory recovery. Perhaps if I go back to placed I frequented as Kate, things will come back to me?"

"You grew up in Indiana so going there is out the question."

"What about where I lived when I was in D.C."

"You never let me go there nor would you give me the address," smirked Tony.

Kate chuckled. "That was problem for the best! No telling what you would have done with that information. I might have ended up with a monthly subscription to Get Some Magazine!"

Tony looked at Kate. "That's weird."

"What?"

"You can't remember anything about yourself and yet you seem to remember a lot about me."

"The temporal lobe handles face recognition not the hippocampus. The information I'm recalling must be how I recognize you."

"You sure it's not something else?"

"Like what?"

Tony flashed Kate a flirty smile.

"Oh God, you and I weren't…? We didn't…?"

Tony laughed. "No, it was nothing like that between us unless secretly you…"

Kate cut her eyes at Tony. "I don't think so."

"I don't know. You did once tell McGee that you thought I was hot!"

"Was I suffering from a brain injury then too?"

Tony laughed.

What about NCIS?"

"What about it?"

"I worked there, right. Maybe being back there will bring back something?"

"Oh no! You are not going anywhere near NCIS until we figure out what is going on here! Besides, you are supposed to be resting your brain."

"Sitting here trying to figure out what happened isn't by any means restful. I want to know what happened to me! I want to remember! We should go!"

"If Gibbs catches on to the fact that you are Kate and not Maura, we are screwed!"

"So, I'll be Maura! I mean I'm still her in a way. He won't know a thing!"

"But your head?"

"My head will be fine, I just need some aspirin. It's my mind I'm more concerned about right now."

"Okay! I'll take you but you are Maura! If any sign of Kate shows up, we leave! Got it?"

"Got it!"

A cellphone began to ring. Kate searched around, unable to find her.

The ringing stopped. "Dr. Maura Isles," answered Tony.

Kate's mouth dropped in shock of what she was witnessing. Tony was on her phone

"Maura?" asked a raspy female voice on the other line.

"Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo. Who is this?"

"Detective Jane Rizzoli, where is Maura?"

"I'm sorry Detective but Maura is busy at the moment."

"Well can you go get her? I need to speak to her."

"Can't, but I'll be sure to tell her that you called." Tony hung up the phone.

"You answered my phone?" snapped Kate.

"Until further notice, you are not to contact anyone without my consent."

"Why not?"

"I don't know what's going on with you and until I can be sure that you aren't on some mission to blow up NCIS. I will hold on to this."

"I need to speak to Jane. She hasn't spoken to me since the night of the accident she is probably worried!"

"You will speak to her when I say you can," Tony placed the phone in his pocket. "Now, unless you plan on going to NCIS in your pajamas, get dressed!"

Kate rolled her eyes, as she threw her legs over the side of the bed. She walked over to her suitcase and began to rummage inside.

"Looking for something?"

Kate looked through her things. "This isn't how I packed my suitcase!" She looked at Tony. "Have you been through my things?"

"Had to make sure you weren't carrying any weapons or anything."

"Are you kidding me?"

"If it makes you feel any better, Maura is a really snazzy dresser." Tony walked over and stood behind Kate. "If I may suggest that nice white dress with the blue jacket, it would go nice with your head bandage!"

Kate turned around, flashing a dimpled smile before she walked by Tony elbowing him hard in the side, and then walking into the bathroom.

Tony smiled to himself. "I kind of missed that!" He rubbed his aching side. "Kind of!"

**So the journey begins! What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here we go! Chapter 9! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

The elevator dinged and Tony followed Kate into the Squad Room. Beads of sweat forming on his brow, he was sure that everyone looking at them knew their secret.

"Okay, we are in the Squad Room. Anything ringing a bell?" asked Tony as he ushered Kate over to his desk.

"No," said Kate, looking around the bright orange office as if she had just entered the Land of Oz.

"Nothing? These florescent orange walls and annoying skylight aren't doing anything for you?"

"Aside for aggravating my headache, no."

Tony stopped his stride. "Crap, Gibbs is here."

Kate smiled as he looked up to see Gibbs coming down the stairs. "He hasn't changed a bit!"

"Got that right! All he has to do is look at you and he will know something is up! Play cool!"

"Play cool? But I'm not cold!"

Tony rolled his eyes.

Gibbs walked up to the pair. "Tony? Maura? What are you two doing here?"

"Um?" stammered Tony. "I needed to get something from my desk. Maura come along for the ride. Isn't that right, Maura?"

Kate rested her hand on her neck, feeling the beginning of hives forming. "Um, yes! I don't want to stay in my hotel room alone so I just tagged along."

Gibbs looked at the woman. "You really should be resting, you know?"

"She should be," interjected Tony. "Let me just grab that thing I came here for and we will go."

Kate followed Tony to his desk, trying her best to avoid eye contact with Gibbs. She paused in front of Ziva's desk. Kate ran her hand over the edge of the desk, her gaze stuck on the empty chair behind it. Closing her eyes, she swallowed hard, the flashing lights returning to the darkness of her eyes and the subtle ringing returning to her ears. In an instead, Kate felt as if a flood gate opened in her brain as memories of NCIS, came back to her.

Tony noticed Maura, leaning against the desk. "Maura? You okay?"

Kate nodded, her eyes still closed.

Gibbs walked and stood standing next to her. He placed his hand in the center of her back, steading her as she swayed from side to side. "Maura?"

Kate opened her eyes, looking straight into Gibbs blue eyed gaze. "I'm fine. I have been experiencing a few side effects from my concussion."

"Which is why you should be resting. Here," Gibbs gently held Kate's arm, guiding her to the other side of the desk. "Sit down."

Kate cautiously sat down in the chair.

"I'll go get you some water."

Gibbs left the Squad Room and Tony walked over to Kate. "What's wrong with you? You're not playing it cool at all!"

"I remember."

"You remember?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"I walked past the desk and I remembered that I used to sit here!"

"Seriously?"

Kate looked around the office. "Yeah, a lot is coming back to me." Kate looked to her left. "Gibbs sits there, McGee right across from him and you across from me."

"You remember McGee?"

"He was our probie. Gibbs made him a full time field agent after the case with the little blind girl."

"You remembered all that just from seeing your old desk?"

"Yes, I remember working here!" Kate looked at the desk. "Who sits here now?"

"Ziva."

"Ziva?"

"She's the agent that replaced you after you…"

Kate put her head down. "After I died?"

"She sits here now."

"How long did it take for them to replace me?"

"She along with our new director showed up the next day."

"Nice to know I meant something to this place. I apparently die and they replace me the next day!"

Tony put his hand on Kate's knee. "NCIS may have replaced you but your team never did."

Gibbs walked up with a bottle of water. "Here you go, Dr. Isles."

"Thank you, Agent Gibbs," Maura opened the bottle taking a sip.

"You got a minute, Tony? Photos have come in on the B.O.L.O., need you to look at them see if they match the car from the other night."

"Okay," Tony looked at Kate. "Will you be okay down here while I go look at these photos?"

"Yes," replied Kate. "I'll be fine."

Tony and Gibbs left leaving Kate seated at Ziva's desk.

Ziva and McGee rounded the corner.

"Hey, isn't that Dr. Isles sitting at my desk?" asked Ziva, noticing the blonde at her desk. "I thought she was in the hospital after Tony so heroically knocked her up!"

McGee looked at Ziva. "It's knocked her out and she was released from the hospital yesterday. Why she's here I don't know? Tony is supposed to be handling her protection detail at her hotel."

Ziva approached the woman. "Excuse me?"

"Yes?" replied Kate.

"I don't mean to be rude but you are sitting at my desk."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Agent Gibbs told me I could sit here and rest a minute. I'll move."

"No, it's fine. Sit."

"Thank you."

"We have not met, I am Ziva David."

Kate shook the woman's hand. "Maura Isles."

"Nice to meet you."

Kate studied Ziva's face. "Likewise."

McGee reached out his hand. "Tim McGee!"

Kate paused as she looked at McGee, shaking his hand. "Tim," Kate unknowing smiled as she looked at him. "You look so grown up!"

"Excuse me?"

Kate shook her head. "Um, Tony told me about you and he described you as very boyish in looks but you, you are very grown up! No longer a probie." Kate put her hands on her neck, feeling the hives forming spreading.

"Probie? I haven't been called that in quite some time!"

"That's what Tony called you."

"Tony called me probie? He hasn't called me that since Ziva joined the team."

"Shoot!" thought Kate to herself. "You know what, you remained me of an officer I work with back in Boston. His name is Detective Frost, but everyone calls him Probie. That's probably why I called you that!" At this point, Kate's neck was on fire.

"Oh?"

Ziva noticed the redness on Kate's neck. "Are you alright Dr. Isles?" asked Ziva.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Because you have a rash on your neck!"

"I do?"

"Oh man, you are breaking out!" exclaimed McGee. "Do you have allergies?"

"Yes!" replied Kate, trying to cover her neck. "It must be this new perfume I put on." Another lie only made the reaction worse.

"I'll call Ducky. Maybe he can help."

"No, it's okay. All I need is an Epipen and it will go away."

"Maybe he has one," Ziva picked up the phone and called Ducky.

Within a few minutes, Ducky arrived in the Squad Room, wearing his scrubs and stethoscope. "Maura, is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, Ducky. It's just urticaria," replied Kate.

"It most definitely is!" said Ducky, examining Kate's neck. "Have you come in contact with any allergens?"

"Yes but I will be fine. I just need to get my Epipen."

"This looks like a pretty bad reaction, its best you get your epinephrine shot sooner rather than later. We lucky keep them one hand for these kinds of emergencies," Ducky pulled an Epipen out his pocket.

Kate saw a flash of light.

_There stood the man in the black leather jacket smiling down at her. She was in a dark room the only light coming down from above her._

"_Just relax, Caitlin," said the man, in a surprising calm tone. "Everything will be okay."_

_Kate tried to move but found that two men were holding her down in her chair on each side._

"_Please, don't hurt me," begged Kate._

_The man ran his hand over the side of Kate's face, pulling her hair behind her ear. "I would never hurt you Caitlin. I am here to help you," The man reached into his pocket pulling out a syringe._

"_What are you doing?" Kate felt the syringe string her neck, feeling the cold liquid enter her body. She tried to keep her eyes open but found it impossible. _

"_Goodbye Caitlin."_

_Just as she is about to go under, she saw a red headed woman, enter the light from the darkness. Everything went black._

Another flash of light and Kate was back in the Squad Room. She felt her heart start to race as she looked at the plastic needle. Looking up at the three people surrounding her, she felt as if she was being smothered and couldn't breathe. Ducky raised the device to give her the shot. "No!" screamed Kate, causing the entire room to go silence.

"Maura, calm down," said Ducky, stunned by the M.E.'s behavior.

"No! I don't want it!" Kate jumped out of the chair rushing off towards the bathroom, leaving Ducky, Ziva and McGee standing in question.

Inside the bathroom, Kate grabbed the edge of the sink, as the trembles ran through her body. "Come on, Kate! Get it together!"

She looked into the mirror at her reflection. "If only you could figure out where Kate is!"

The door to the restroom opening startled Kate as Skylar walked in.

"Sorry, Dr. Isles! Did I scare you?" asked Skylar.

"No, no, I'm fine." She ran her hands through her blonde locked, before smoothing out the wrinkling in the white dress, and straightening out the blue jacket that she paired with it, hoping to concern the angst inside her.

"You okay? You look like you have something on your mind?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure?"

Kate sighed. "No, actually. I'm having quite the morning."

"Anything I can do?"

"Would you mind giving me a ride back to my hotel? I came here with Tony but he's busy with the case and I'm really not feeling well."

"Yeah, sure! I'll take you back. Just give me a minute."

"Thanks," Kate stepped out the restroom and made her way back over to Ziva's desk where Ducky, Ziva and McGee waited.

"Are you okay, my dear?" asked Ducky.

"I'm fine. My concussion has me a bit off kilter and I haven't been myself lately."

"Perhaps you should be resting?"

"I ran into Agent Williams and asked her to take me back to my hotel. I think I just need to lay down."

"That's a good idea," said McGee.

"If you could just let Tony know I left, I would appreciate it."

"Of course," said Ducky. "Feel better."

Skylar walked up and she and Kate headed for the elevator.

Awhile later, Gibbs and Tony reemerged in the Squad Room.

"Where's Maura?" asked Tony, seeing Ziva sitting at her desk and not Kate.

"She wasn't feeling well so she had Williams take her back to the hotel," explained Ziva.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She had an allergic reaction. We called Ducky and he was going to give her a shot to help her but she freaked out about! Apparently after her concussion she hasn't been feeling like herself."

"Maura been acting strange lately, DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs.

"No," replied Tony, attempting to keep as straight a face as possible. "She has been having some pretty bad headaches but she's been okay other than that."

The look Gibbs gave Tony made him nervous.

"I…I better get to the hotel and check on her," Tony grabbed his things and headed for the elevator.

**Well, that trip to NCIS went well! Kate has recovered her memory but has her cover as Maura been compromised? What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey y'all! I have to say, I love reading your reviews and I know there are many questions that are left to be answered, I just wanted to take the time and tell you that all will be answered in due time. This fanfiction is a bit of a slow burner so I ask that you just hang in there with me. Okay?**

**Here we go! Chapter 10! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

At the hotel, Kate walked into the room and flopped down on the sofa with Skylar right behind her, closing the door behind them.

"Is there anything, I can get for you Dr. Isles," asked Skylar.

"No, thank you, Agent Williams. I appreciate you bringing me back," replied Kate.

"Call me Skylar. You've been here over a week now I think we can be on first name basis now. Are you sure I can't get you anything? Something to eat maybe? It's almost lunch time."

"No, I just need to sit for a while but you can go get you something if you want. I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll be back in few minutes." Skylar exited the room.

Kate let out a heavy breath. She kicked off her heels and threw her blue jacket to the side, stretching out on the sofa. She noticed a hotel pen and pad sitting on the coffee table. Picking up the pad and pen, she pulled her knees to her chest and began to draw.

Nearly an hour passed before Skylar returned to the hotel.

"Sorry, it took me so long. There was a line at the cheesesteak place. I know you said you didn't want anything but I thought maybe you would want to split a chicken cheesesteak," Skylar placed the grease soaked paper containing the sandwich next to Kate.

"No, thank you," said Kate, putting her focus back on the pad in her lap.

"I know it's not organic but it's better than nothing. I even had them put all the veggies on it to make it healthier!"

"Before or after they fried every bit of nurturance out of them?"

"Got me there!" She noticed the pad in Kate's lap. "What are you doing?"

"Drawing."

"A doctor and an artist? What are you drawing?"

Kate handed Skylar the pad.

Skylar took a moment to examine to artwork. "It's…it's a case file."

"I was drawing from memory."

"So you drew a case file?"

"It was the only thing I could think of!"

"I hate to tell you this Maura but if the only thing you can think of to draw is a case file, you might be spending too much time on the job!"

Kate laughed.

"But I give it to you, this is pretty realistic looking! You drew the label and everything!"

Skylar flipped the page. The drawing was of a star with a circle in the middle, thirteen stars with it. Behind the larger star was a pentagon with bald eagle between each point of the metal. A ribbon holding the pendent. "You win this award or something?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders. "It just came to me so I drew it."

"Okay," Skylar looked at Kate funny before she flipped the page again. She froze at the drawing in front of her. "Now this is interesting."

"What?"

Skylar flipped pad over showing Kate the drawing. "It's a Bravo 51."

"Never heard of it?"

"It's used a Remington M700 tactical rifle, Marine snipers use it. It's similar to the Army's M24 SWS rifle but they call it a Kate."

Kate ears shot up. "A Kate?"

"Yeah, it stands for "Kill All The Enemy." This picture is pretty accurate. I would love to have this to hang up at my desk!"

"Feel free to keep all those if you like."

"Thanks!"

The door opened and Tony walked in. "Ka..!" Tony noticed Skylar standing in the room. "Maura! Everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Thanks for bringing her back here, Williams."

"No problem." Skylar felt an awkwardness standing with the pair. "Well now that you're here, I will leave you two." Skylar left leaving Tony and Kate alone.

Tony sat down next to Kate. "What the happened back at NCIS? Ziva and McGee told me you had an allergic reaction and freaked out when Ducky tried to help you."

"I can't lie! I break out in hives when I do!"

"Since when?"

"Since Maura."

"Well what did you lie about?"

"Being Kate! I saw McGee and I accidently called him probie! To cover for it, I lied and thus the hives!"

"Okay but why the freak out?"

Kate was quiet. "I saw him."

"Saw who?"

"The man from my nightmare the other night. He was standing over me with a needle, telling me to relax and that he wasn't there to hurt me but help and then he stabbed me with the needle and everything started to go dark and there was a woman…"

Tony put his hand on Kate's shoulder. "Okay, okay, calm down."

Kate took a deep breathe. "I panicked! Tony, I have this strange feeling that whoever this man is and what these dreams I keep having mean, they have something to do with whatever happened to me."

"Well then we better get to work on figuring out who he is."

"Are we going back to NCIS?"

"Uh no! After what happened today I think its best you stay far away from there. It gets out that you are really Kate who knows what will happen! This has to stay between the two of us!" Just then Kate's cellphone began to buzz in Tony's pocket. "Although, I don't think Detective Rizzoli is going to let that happen!" Tony snatched the phone out his pocket, handing it to Kate. "She's called like twenty times! Please talk to her!"

Kate answered the phone. "Maura."

"What the hell? Where have you been? And why is some Agent Oso answering your phone?" snapped Jane, seated at her desk.

"I'm sorry, Jane. I've been busy the last few days."

"Too busy to answer your own phone? I've been trying to get in touch with you to let you know that we caught the copycat killer! Case is closed!"

"You caught him? How?"

"Some guy named Gibbs sent his case notes to the precinct, lead us right to the guy. You can stop playing Agent Isles and come home!"

Kate looked at Tony. "Um, I think I might stay in D.C. awhile longer, Jane."

"What? Why?"

"There are some things that I need to do before I return to Boston."

Jane paused. "You're lying!"

"No, I'm not!"

"Your neck is probably breaking out as we speak! Why aren't you coming back? Wouldn't have anything to do with that Oso guy would it?"

"His name is DiNozzo and no, it has nothing to do with him. I have some personal business I need to take care of."

"In D.C.? Now I know you're lying. What's going on, Maura?"

Kate put her hand over the phone. "She wants to know why I'm not coming home yet. I have to tell her about the concussion or she will start jumping to crazy conclusions!"

"Fine," replied Tony.

Kate put the phone to her ear. "I can't come home yet because I got a concussion two days ago and I'm not clear to fly."

"A concussion? What happened?"

"I was crossing the street and a car came zooming by. Agent DiNozzo pushed me out the way and I hit my head on the pavement."

"Maura, why didn't you call me? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Agent DiNozzo has been looking after me."

"I'm coming out there to get you!"

"No, Jane! Don't! I'm fine, I promise!"

"You have a concussion, Maura! You are not fine! I'm coming! What hotel are you at?"

"Jane, listen to me. I'm okay! I'm just resting. You don't need to come here!"

"But Maur..."

"Stay in Boston, Jane. I'll call you and let you know how I'm doing. I'll be home soon. Bye Jane!" Maura hung up the phone.

"Maura?" Jane slammed her phone down.

"You prefer a morning flight or afternoon?"

Jane looked up to see Frost working on his computer. "What?"

"You're going to get Maura, right? You want a morning flight or an afternoon flight?"

"You were listening to my conversation?"

"You talk loudly!"

"She told me not to come."

"You know darn well you are not going to let Maura stay in D.C. by herself with a concussion. There are flights leaving tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon, which you want?"

"Morning. Wait, which flight is less packed? I hate to be stuck next to some fat ass sweating all over me when he reaches for his tenth bag of peanuts!"

"Afternoon it is!"

Jane got up. "I better go tell Cavanagh I'm going to need a few days. You and Korsak can hold down the fort while I'm gone right?"

"Do we have a choice? Maura is your best friend, even if we couldn't handle things you would probably still leave."

"True."

Back at NCIS, Skylar walked over to her desk just as Daniel was placing a box of files on her desk.

"What is this?" asked Skylar.

"Old case files. You need to enter them into the computerized system," replied Daniel.

"Why me?"

"Because last I checked you were a probie and this is probie work."

"I'm starting to think that probie work is code for bitch work."

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

"I want these case files out of here by morning!" Daniel walked away.

Skylar dropped the Maura's drawings on her desk before she slumped down in her desk and got to work.

Skylar spent the next few hours going through file after file entering information into the computer system. Her eyes began to hurt from looking between the computer screen and the small type of the case files. Finishing up one more file, she leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes to take a short break. She looked over to the edge of her desk where Kate's pictures sat. On top was the picture of the Bravo 51. Rummaging through her desk she pulled out a thumb tack and posted the picture on her wall. She examined the one of the pendent them the case file and was hit with a sudden sense of inquisitiveness.

"I wonder?"

She opened the case file database. Kate had titled the file in the picture "twilight" so that was what Skylar entered. A strike of the enter key sent the system searching and a beep indicated a result.

"Seriously?"

She clicked the link. "Top Secret Classified: ID required," popped up on the screen.

"No way?"

She glanced over to Kate's picture again. Written underneath the file name was "S051773A," Skylar raised her eyebrow. She entered the numbers into the box and pressed enter.

"What the world?"

At first glance it looked like a regular case file but further examination revealed it was far from it. It wasn't until she got to the bottom of the page that she knew she had stumbled on something big.

The door to Director Vance's office flew open as Skylar rushed in. "Director Vance, sir, I think we have a situation."

"Agent Williams, you are aware of NCIS protocol aren't you?" asked Vance.

"Yes sir, I am."

"They why are you entering my office unannounced?"

"Because I have something that you really need to see!" Skylar threw down a stack of freshly printed papers.

"What is this?"

"A case file."

"It marked top secret, you don't have clearance for this type of information. How did you get access to this?"

"We will get to that later, I think you need to take a look at it, Director!"

Vance began to flip through the paper, his eye growing bigger and bigger with every page turn. "Oh my gosh! How the hell did you find this?"

"It was in the case file database," Skylar flipped through the stack of papers, placing one in front of Vance. "Read the names of the persons involved, anything sticking out to you?"

Vance examined the list, his eyes stopping on the name: . "K. Todd? As in Kate Todd, Gibbs' old agent?"

"Yeah, now look at this?" Skylar pulled out another sheet of paper identical to the first. "It was added as an appendix, look where Kate's name was."

Vance examined the document. "Oh boy!"

"I know!"

Vance looked at Williams. "I think you and I need to take a little ride!"

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Here we go! Chapter 11! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

At the hotel, Kate laid curled up on the sofa, sadness written on her face. Tony walked over and sat down on the floor next to her, a prepackaged sandwich in hand.

"You need to eat something, Kate," said Tony.

"For the hundredth time Tony, I'm not hungry," groaned Kate. "I want to figure out who this man in my dreams is! Can we get to work?"

"We will, in due time. Right now, you need to relax! All this stress can't be good from your head! Now come on, share this sandwich with me. It's tuna! I'll even leave you more than just the crust this time!" smiled Tony.

"Fine," Kate sat up taking half the sandwich.

"You know aside from the blonde hair and designer clothes, you haven't changed a bit. You know looks wise."

"I look in the mirror and I don't even recognize myself. I mean I'm a blonde, Tony! I never would consider dying my hair blonde!"

"But it looks good on you! I like it!"

Kate could feel herself blush. "Well, you haven't changed either. Although I remember you being a bit smaller around the middle!"

"Ouch!"

Kate smiled, showing off her dimples as she took a bite of the sandwich.

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Tony, getting up. Opening the door, he found Vance and Skylar standing on the other side. "Director Vance? What are you doing here?"

"Is Maura here, DiNozzo?" asked Vance, stern.

"Yeah, she's right here."

Vance pushed the door open entering the room followed by Skylar. Vance approached Kate. "I need you to come with me, Maura."

"Ah, Director Vance, I don't think that's such a good idea. Maura has had a bit of a rough morning, I don't think she needs to go back to NCIS right now," explained Tony.

"Is that so DiNozzo? How bad of a morning you think she's going to have when she wakes up in Gitmo for the rest of her life?"

"Why, would she be waking up in Gitmo?"

"Agent Williams."

Skylar approached Kate but Tony stepped in front of her. "Wait, I want to know what's going on here."

"I'll inform you of everything as soon as we take her in for questioning."

Skylar stepped around Tony, lifting Kate but the arm. Putting her arms behind her back she locked the metal bracelets around her wrists.

"Director Vance?" questioned Tony.

"Move DiNozzo!" scolded Vance.

Tony wrapped his arms around Kate's waist, whispering into her ears. "Remember what I told you earlier! Don't say anything! I will take care of this!"

Kate looked Tony in the eyes, as Skylar pulled her out the room.

Gibbs, McGee and Ziva were working at their desks when Skylar walked off the elevator, ushering a handcuffed Kate towards interrogation.

"Oh my gosh! Does Williams have Dr. Isles in handcuffs?" questioned McGee, looking up to see the scene.

Ziva and Gibbs stood up and turned around to see what was happening, as a pissed off looking Vance and Tony following them.

Gibbs followed.

Skylar walked Kate into interrogation, sitting her in the chair facing the two-way mirror, preparing to un-cuff her.

"Leave her cuffed," ordered Vance, staring at Kate.

Gibbs entered the room. "Leon, what is going on?"

"Gibbs, DiNozzo, in my office! Now!" The agents left the room, leaving Kate alone and handcuffed.

Vance waited for Tony and Gibbs to enter his office before he pushed the hidden red button under his desk, making his office completely secure from the outside world.

"What's going on, Leon?" asked Gibbs.

Vance sighed. "We have situation on our hands."

"You think? Why in the world did you arrest Dr. Isles?" asked Tony.

"Because of this," Vance took the papers out his desk and dropped him in front Gibbs. "You've been with NCIS quite some time Gibbs, you ever worked any top secret ops before?"

"I've done a few," Gibbs picked up the paper and started leafing through them.

"Then you are familiar with the protocol. What you have in front of you is Twilight, a top secret interagency operation to track down a suspected Al-Qaeda cell operating here on U.S. soil."

"What does that have to do with you arresting Dr. Isles?"

Vance pulled out two sheet of paper, placing on down. "This is a list of person's involved in the operation. I assume you recognize the third name from the top."

Gibbs picked up the list, looking it over. He froze at what he saw. "K. Todd."

"That's right, K. Todd as in Caitlin Todd, your former agent."

"Kate was working a top secret operation? Why didn't she tell us?" asked Tony.

"Maybe because it was top secret," replied Gibbs, in a matter of fact manner.

Vance leaned against his desk. "Top secret protocol states that all persons involved in the operation are to be listed within the op file."

"Still don't get what this has to do with Maura," said Tony.

Vance placed down the other sheet of paper. "This is an amended list of person's involved. Notice anything?"

Gibbs read the names. " ?"

"What?" Tony took the paper from Gibbs.

"Look at where her name is and look at the name on the original document," said Vance.

Gibbs looked at the paper. "Are you sure about this, Leon?"

"You know protocol, Gibbs."

"But that isn't possible."

"You might want to start thinking outside your box of possibility."

"I don't think you understand, Leon, you want me to believe…"

"The document doesn't lie, Gibbs."

"Yeah, but the people who write them do."

"That's true, that's why I want her to tell us what happened."

"I'll talk to her."

"No, you won't, I will. For all we know she could have gone rogue. This is too personal for you and I need answers." Vance left his office, Gibbs and Tony right behind him as he headed for interrogation.

"Boss, what's going on?" asked Tony, right on Gibbs heels.

"Top secret protocol, anyone involved in a top secret op is to remain on that operation until it's over or unless circumstances prevent them from performing the op. Kate was working this op when she died which means she that she couldn't be a part of the operation anymore in which case the amendment would have had her name missing. Hers was replaced."

"So they replaced Kate?"

"They don't replace people on top secret ops, DiNozzo, they replace identities."

Gibbs and Tony walked into the interrogation observation room, where Skylar waited.

On the other side of the mirror, Vance threw the stack of papers down on the table taking a seat in the chair opposite from Kate.

"Tell me about Twilight," said Vance.

"I don't know what you are talking about," replied Kate.

"I'm talking about the Twilight operation. What happened?"

"I don't know."

"Tell me what happened. We are or were working for the same agency and maybe I can help you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why did they change your identity? You are no medical examiner from Boston."

Kate shook her head. "I don't know what you are talking about?"

"We know the truth but I want to hear it from you so start talking unless you want to spend the rest of your life in maximum security! What happened on the Twilight operation?"

"I don't know what you are talking about!"

Vance slammed his hand down on the table causing Kate to jump in her seat. "Game's over! Who are you working for?"

"What?"

"The op is over and you are still keeping up the charade, why?"

"I'm not working for anyone! Why are you doing this?" Kate voice began to crack.

"You've gone rogue? Is that it?"

"I don't know what you are talking about! I haven't gone rogue and I don't know anything about Twilight!"

Gibbs watched attentively from the other side of the glass.

"She's lying," scuffed Skylar.

"No, she's not! She's telling the truth, she doesn't know what he's talking about," said Gibbs.

"How do you know?"

"I just do! How did you gain access to that file, Williams?"

"She gave it me."

"She gave it to you?"

Skylar pulled out the picture of the case file. "She drew this. Curiosity got the best of me, I entered it into the system and file came up."

"This is top secret. Your clearance is not high enough to have accessed this!"

Skylar pointed to the line underneath the file name.

Gibbs snatched the paper from Skylar, rushing out the room.

"What did you find in that file, Williams?" asked Tony.

"The living dead."

Tony froze for a moment, thinking about what Skylar said. "Oh no!" Tony took off after Gibbs.

"Oh no? What happened? DiNozzo!" Skylar ran after Tony.

Abby was in her lab talking to McGee when Gibbs rushed in.

"Gibbs, McGee just told me that Vance had Maura arrested! What's going on?"

Gibbs slammed the picture down in front of Abby.

"Cool picture! Although you could use better photo subjects, Gibbs!"

"I didn't draw it, Maura did!" Gibbs pointed the ID on the file. "This is the ID of someone at NCIS, I need to know who?"

"Finding out government ID numbers would require me to hack into a highly secured database. If I get caught I could lose my job!"

"Then don't get caught, now do it!"

Abby looked at McGee before she started typing feverishly. Sensing the urgency in Gibbs' face, McGee stood next to Abby, the two of them engaging in computer talk as they hacked the system.

"Gibbs!" shouted Tony, running to the lab with Skylar behind him.

"Not now, Tony!" spat Gibbs.

"Gibbs, I really need to talk to you about Maura. It's important!"

"Not as important as this!"

"Actually Boss, it's about this."

Gibbs turned around looking Tony straight in the eyes.

"Oh my God!" shouted Abby.

"What?"

"This ID number."

"What about it? Were you able to find out who it belonged to?"

"Yeah," Abby swallowed as she clicked the mouse causing a photo to pop up on the plasma.

Gibbs' eyebrows knitted together.

"Boss, is that right?" asked McGee.

"Yeah, it's right, McGee. That's Kate's ID number."

"Why does Maura know Kate's ID number? We aren't supposed to give that number to any one! Kate knew that!" said Abby.

"She didn't give it to anyone."

"Then how did Maura get it?" Abby paused her hands collapsing over her mouth. "Oh my god!"

Gibbs looked at Abby before leaving the lab, Tony and Skylar with him.

"McGee, please tell me this is a coincidence and not what I think it is?"

"There's no such thing as coincidence, Abbs," said McGee, just as shocked as Abby.

The pair rushed after the other agents.

Tony struggled to keep up with Gibbs as he pretty much ran down the hall towards interrogation. "Boss, wait I really need to talk to you!"

Gibbs did a one-eighty nearly causing Tony to collide with him. "What is it, DiNozzo!"

"Boss, I really need to talk to you about Maura," stammered Tony.

Gibbs squared up with Tony. "You knew?"

Tony was silent.

"Why didn't you come to me?"

"I…"

Gibbs said nothing as he swung open the door to interrogation. Kate looked up at the senior agent her eyes red with tears.

"Gibbs, you are not to be in here!" spat Vance.

Gibbs ignored the Director, walking over to Kate's side of the table. One hand on the back of Kate's chair, the other on the table, Gibbs leaned close to Kate, his lips just inches from her ear. "I'm going to ask you a simple yes or no question. Think very carefully before you answer and remember rule number seven."

Kate turned her head looking to Gibbs' eyes.

Gibbs leaned in closer. "Are you Special Agent Caitlin Todd?"

Kate was silent. She put her head down as tears began to flow heavily from her eyes. She whispered "yes" ever so softly.

Traditionally a man of little emotion, Gibbs embraced Kate as she cried into his shoulder.

In observation, the room was silent was Tony, McGee, Abby and Skylar looked on.

"This can't be real?" said McGee.

"It's real, McGee," said Tony, never looking away from Kate and Gibbs.

"She's really…" asked Abby, trying to hold back tears but failing miserably.

Tony nodded. "Yeah Abbs, she's Kate."

**The secret's out! What do you think? Review and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Here we go! Chapter 12! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

Kate continued to cry into Gibbs' shoulder but he didn't seem to mind one bit as he held onto her, like a father reunited with his long lost child. "It's alright, Kate. You're safe."

"I'm sorry, Gibbs," whispered Kate.

"Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong."

"Gibbs!" exclaimed Vance.

"Interrogation's over, Leon!"

"I don't think so!"

"I do!"

"Gibbs, why am I in here?" asked Kate.

"Don't worry about it," Gibbs looked at the badge wrapped around Kate's head. "I want Ducky to take a look at you, okay?"

"Okay."

Gibbs gave Kate a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I'll be right back." He got up and left interrogation. A very pissed off Vance followed him into the hallway.

"What was that, Gibbs?" yelled Vance.

"You got your confession, Leon! She's Kate!" replied Gibbs.

"But I didn't get my answers!"

"She has none!"

"She's lying!"

"No, she's not! She doesn't remember the operation."

"You really want me to believe that?"

"Believe it, Leon!"

"How? You explain to me how your "dead agent" has been masquerading as a medical examiner all these years and not remember how she got there?"

"I don't know! But I believe her!"

"Maura was a cover, Gibbs! A cover that should have ended when the operation did. She knew that! If she's gone rogue, we need to detain her and find out who she is working for!"

"You are not detaining her!"

"I will if I feel that she is a security threat!"

"I know Kate! She would never lie about something like this, if she can't remember it's because she can't remember."

"You may trust her but I'm not so easily convinced! Something funny is going on here and I want to know what!"

"So do I! Give me time to talk to her and figure this out."

"I want answers, Gibbs! Until I get them, Kate remains in NCIS custody!" Vance walked away.

Tony, McGee, Skylar and Abby stepped out of the observation.

Gibbs looked at the group.

"McGee, call Ducky and tell him to put down whatever he's doing and get up here. I need I'm to take a look at Kate."

Abby stepped toward Gibbs. "Is it really her, Gibbs?"

"Yeah, Abbs but I want to verify it."

"Now that I've accessed her employee records, I can do a blood type comparison."

"Do it. How long will it take?"

"Couple hours."

"I'll have Ducky draw a sample and send it to you."

"Can I go talk to her?"

"Not now, Abbs."

"Okay, I'll go warm up my equipment," Abby left.

"Williams!"

"Yes, Gibbs?" asked Skylar, nervous.

"Go over this op with a fine tooth comb. I want to know everything about all of Kate's involvements in this!"

"You sure you don't want someone on your team to go over this? I mean I…"

"No, I want you to do it! You're so curious, here you go!"

"Yes sir," Skylar walked away.

Tony stood silently in the hall with Gibbs.

"How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That Maura was Kate?"

"I just did. Something about her eyes, I knew she wasn't lying."

"So you decide that it would be better to handle this matter yourself?"

"I know I should have said something, Boss but she was scared and I was scared for her. She trusted me and I didn't want anything to happen to her…not again."

Gibbs sighed. "I know you didn't."

Ducky approached the pair. "McGee called me and took me to come up right away. Is everything alright?"

"Define alright?" said Gibbs as he opened the door to interrogation.

Ducky walked inside. "Maura? Gibbs, what is going on here? Why do you have Maura in cuffs?"

"She's not Maura, Duck."

"Jethro, my vision may not be what it used to be but I know that is Dr. Isles."

Tony shook his head. "Try again."

"Ducky, Dr. Isles is not Dr. Isles. She's Kate. Our Kate," said Gibbs.

"That is not funny, Jethro!"

"It's not a joke, Ducky."

Ducky turned to Kate, standing frozen as he looked at her. "Oh my," Ducky slowly approached the woman, looking her over. "Caitlin? Is it really you?"

"Yes, Ducky."

"But how? I…"

"I'll explain it to you but first I want you to take a look at her."

"Of course, let's get her down to autopsy."

Awhile later, Ducky and Tony escorted Kate back to the Squad Room where Gibbs worked at his desk.

"How you feeling, Kate?" asked Gibbs, getting up allowing Kate to sit at his desk.

"Better now that I'm not in cuffs," said Kate.

"Not exactly what I had in mind when I envisioned you in cuffs!" joked Tony.

A swift elbow to the side let Tony know exactly how Kate felt about the situation.

Gibbs smiled. "Yeah, you're Kate alright."

"How she looking, Ducky?"

"She will be fine but she really needs to relax. All of this is not good for her head injury right now," said Ducky.

Gibbs handed Kate some water. "Here, sip on this."

Kate opened the bottle. "How did you find out?"

"The picture you gave to Skylar of the case file was an actual case. One that you were working on. Your name on the file has been replaced with Maura's."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that for some reason you were forced to take on a new identity."

"I don't understand. Why would I need a new identity?"

"That's what we need to figure out but right now you just relax, okay?"

"Okay."

Gibbs signaled for Ducky to join him around the corner. "She okay, Ducky?"

"She seems fine other than her obvious memory loss. She only remembers certain things about herself as Caitlin and yet she remembers everything about Maura."

"Any idea why she can't remember anything about the operation?"

"Haven't a clue. My mind jumps to PTSD suffers. Often as a cooping mechanism, they will block out the event. Perhaps this operation Caitlin was working on resulted in some sort of traumatic event, thus her forgetfulness. The plus side is that she does seem to be gaining memory back. Apparently her being here early today brought back a great deal of memories of her time as an agent. Perhaps with some time and some assistance in the memory recall area, we will find that she knows more about the matter."

"How could this have happened and none of us known? Tony and I were there, we saw her get hit! You had her downstairs and yet here she is."

"I believe that is for the trained investigator, i.e. you, to determine."

Gibbs sighed. "I don't even know where to start."

The lab results came back and it was confirmed, Maura Isles was in fact, Caitlin Todd. With Kate's sketchy memory, it was up to Gibbs and his team to figure out what happened during the Twilight operation. They worked diligently into the night to find out whatever they could. Kate had grown tired and in desperate need of sleep. After an hour of trying to convince Vance that they would not allow Kate to get away and a severe verbal lashing from Ducky about her current condition, Tony was allowed to take her back to her hotel.

It was nearly 3am, Gibbs sat at his desk flipping through pages of the operation looking for any clues as to what happened to Kate.

Skylar ran up to Gibbs. "Gibbs, I think I may have found something!"

"Williams, you're still here?" asked Gibbs, surprised to see the agent.

"I've been going through the op like you told me and I think I know what Kate's job in the operation was."

"What?"

"Kate was a mole!"

"A mole?"

"Apparently, Kate had some kind of affiliation with the terrorist cell that was being tracked down."

"Kate was not a terrorist!" Gibbs defensed for is newly returned agent were up.

"I know! But she had contact with one. Someone named Haswari?"

Gibbs' blood ran cold at the sound of the name. "Ari?"

"Yeah, that's him! Kate first encountered him when she was held hostage by him, here in autopsy."

"What does that have to do with Kate's involvement in Twilight?"

"Ari contacted Kate not long after he escaped."

"Ari contacted Kate?"

"A tap on his phone picked up the call. And apparently the tone of the call gave the impression that he was into her. NCIS approached Kate and assigned her with the task of baiting Ari, getting as much information out of him as she could. She was apparently really good at it, she inquired a lot of information from him including something named Selsi."

"What is Selsi?"

"I don't know but look at this," Skylar placed down a sheet of paper. "This report was written one week before the amendment was added. I got a feeling this Selsi thing had something to do with Kate turning into Maura."

"We need to find out what Selsi is. Who else was involved in this operation? Maybe they know something?" Gibbs pulled out a list of names, reading it to see if he could recognize any of them. "T. Fornell! Should have known!" Gibbs got up and walked off.

"Who's T. Fornell?"

"A bastard!"

At her hotel, Kate laid in bed tossing and turning in her sleep.

_The file was dropped on the table in front of Kate._

"_This is a matter of national security," said a red-haired woman, circling the table. "You are the only one who has ever gotten this close to him. Your connection to him could help us locate the cell." _

"_What do you want me to do?" asked Kate._

"_He's clearly smitten with you. Use your womanly charm to get whatever information you can get from him but he can't know what you are up to. If he gets wind that you are working an op it could put us and this operation in a very bad position."_

_Kate sighed. "I guess I better not get caught then."_

_A light flashed._

_Kate sat at a panic table outside a barn with the man in black. It was afternoon, a gentle breeze rustled the trees over the table._

"_We cannot do this anymore, Caitlin. I have said too much. It has become too dangerous," said the man in his memorizing accent._

"_No one knows about us, it isn't necessary."_

"_But they do! And I fear that they will come after me…after you. You must do as I say! It is the only option."_

"_I can take care of myself!"_

"_Not in this matter! You must do this!"_

"_No! Forget it!"_

_The man sighed. "Fine, you leave me no choice." The man pulls a tiny box out of his pocket. "Seeing as this is the last time I will see you for some time, I want you to take this. Keep it safe. When we reunite, I want it back."_

"_What is it?"_

"_It's..."_

"Kate!" the boomed of Tony's voice from the sofa woke Kate from her slumber.

"What?" shouted Kate.

"You mind? I'm trying to get some sleep over here!"

Kate sat up in bed, running her hands over her eyes. "What time is it?"

Tony reached over to his cellphone laying on the coffee table. "2:55! You've been talking in your sleep for the last hour!"

"These damn dreams!"

Tony sat up. "You had another one?"

Kate nodded.

Tony got up, yawning as he walked over to the bed and sat down next to Kate. "What happened this time?"

"I was talking to the woman for the last dream and I agreed to do some operation for her and it was important that I not get caught."

"Maybe that was Twilight?"

"I don't know? But then, I was at this barn and the man was there and we were talking. It was like we knew each other. He gave me something."

"What did he give you?"

"You woke me up before he could answer!"

"Sorry! At least it wasn't a nightmare this time."

"I guess. We have to figure this out, Tony."

"We will! Gibbs will! Don't worry! Why don't you go back to sleep. You need after today."

"Do you mind?" Kate looked at the bed.

"You want me to stay over here with you?"

"Please?"

"This has to be a Maura thing because you would never think about, let alone want me to sleep next to her!"

"It's not like we're sleeping together, Tony! You're just sleeping in the bed with me. I'm just not fully comfortable sleeping alone right now."

"You want me to protect you from the boogey man?"

Kate tilted her head in annoyance.

"Fine, but stay on your side!"

"Thank you," Kate slide over taking note of Tony's attire. "Are you in your boxers?"

"They're clean. I took a shower while you were sleep, grabbed these and this t-shirt out of my desk."

"You keep underwear in your desk?"

"I never know when I'm going home, have to be prepared! You kept tam…"

"Hey!"

"What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is you are in your underwear! Where are your clothes?"

"It's very uncomfortable sleeping in a suit, okay! You act like I'm naked! Now you want me to sleep over here or not?"

Kate rolled her eye, slide even further over in the bed.

The next morning, Kate laid curled up on her side of the bed while Tony had sprawled out on his side and hers, most of the cover covering his body.

Kate reached over and grabbed the blanket, pulling it forcefully. "Quit hogging the covers, DiNozzo!"

"I'm not hogging the cover," Tony almost incoherently said as he rolled over in bed.

There was a knock on the door.

"Get the door, Tony!"

"You get the door, Kate! I'm trying to sleep!"

"You're the agent in charge!"

"It's your door!"

"What if it's my accomplice here to shoot you?"

Tony pulled his gun from out the side table drawer, placing it on the table. "Got it covered! Now get the door!"

Kate rolled her eyes as she got out of bed and made her way over to the door where the banging continued. She opened the door and her mouth dropped open. "Oh my god... Jane!"

**Oh snap! Rizzoli is here! Things are really about to get interesting! What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Seriously, I love all my lovely readers and all the amazing reviews and comments you leave, it really makes my day.**

**Here we go! Chapter 13! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. **

"_Oh my god! Jane!"_

"I know you said to stay in Boston and that you were fine down here in D.C. but you are my best friend and you have a concussion! What kind of person would I be to just leave you here by yourself?" asked Jane.

"The kind who listens," replied Kate, still in shock from seeing the brunette. "How did you get here?"

"I flew. I wasn't planning on coming until this afternoon but after I told Ma about your concussion she pretty much forced me to take an earlier flight."

"I really wish you hadn't told Angela, I don't want her to worry unnecessarily."

"She's Ma, that's what she does! You know she thinks of you as her other daughter."

"Wait, how did you find out what hotel I was staying in?"

"I had Frost go through your web browser on your laptop and see where you made reservations. You know you visit a lot of designer shoe websites!"

"I can't believe you went through my laptop!"

"Believe it! Now will you let me in? I just sent the last hour on a crowded plane stuck between a woman who I'm pretty sure ate onions from breakfast and a guy who can snore the paint off the walls!"

Kate looked over her shoulder at a still asleep Tony, laying in her bed. "Um, wouldn't you like to grab a cup of coffee from downstairs or something?"

"I already had four cups this morning. Come on, Let me in!" Jane stepped forward to enter the room but Kate blocked the way. "What's the matter with you?"

Kate could feel the hives coming. "Nothing, it's just with my concussion I haven't really been picking up after myself and my room is a bit of a mess!"

"Maura one dirty sock on the floor does not count as messy!"

"You don't understand this is really messy!"

"So, I'll help you clean up later! Now come on, I want to sit down and relax! I mean seriously, how bad can a Maura Isles mess be?" Jane nudged Kate aside, entering into the hotel room where she got a good look at Tony, asleep, in his underwear, in Kate's bed. "Now that's a big mess!"

Kate closed the door. "Jane, I can explain."

Jane's gaze was fixed on the sleeping agent. "Is he why you wanted me to stay in Boston?"

"It's not what it looks like."

"It looks like there's a man, in his underwear, asleep in your bed! Or did I miss something?"

"No, that's exactly what it looks like."

"Geez Maura, I know you said sex is good for the body but I really don't think knocking your head against the headboard is good for a concussion!"

"I didn't knock my head against the headboard! We didn't sleep together! I mean we slept together but we didn't…"

Jane raised an eyebrow.

"He just stayed the night."

"So, in other words, you haven't has sex with him…yet?"

"Jane!"

"Maura, you are a grown woman, you do what…"Jane glanced over at Tony. "Or who you want!"

"I'm not doing anything with him! That's Agent DiNozzo, he's with NCIS, and he's been staying with me the last few days while I recover from my concussion."

"NCIS? Maura, you were here to help with a case not sleep with the agents!"

"I'm not sleeping with him! My head injury has been causing me to have bête noirs…"

"Ew, Maura I don't want to hear about your sex life!"

"Nightmares, Jane. He simply slept in the bed with me so he could wake me if I had another."

"Oh, I thought you two were…"

"No! Never!"

"But why is he in his underwear."

"Apparently sleeping in his suit was rather uncomfortable. But I ensure you this is all completely innocent!"

"If you say so. You think maybe you could wake him? Have him put some pants on? I'm having flashback of Cavanaugh and Ma and I don't like it!"

"Yes. I will do that!"

"Thank you. I'm just going to use your bathroom."

Kate pointed to the bathroom door. "Right over there."

Jane went into the bathroom.

Kate sighed as she rushed over to the bed and shook Tony. "Tony…Tony wake up!"

"What?" groaned Tony.

"We got a major problem. Jane is here!"

Tony yawned as he rubbed his eyes. "Jane? Jane who?"

"Jane Rizzoli, the detective from Boston Homicide."

"What? What is she doing here?"

"Apparently she came to take care of me. Well, Maura rather. I told her about my concussion and she felt the need to come down here."

"I thought you told her not to come?"

"I did but Jane does what she wants when she wants."

"You didn't tell her what was going on did you?"

"Do I look stupid? No! I don't need her knowing about the whole Kate situation, not until I am better able to explain it. Unlike you, Jane might actually shoot me!"

"And you call her your best friend?"

"Look, I need to play along, okay? Even though we know the truth, around Jane I am Maura!"

"Are you sure you are going to be able to do that? You break out in hives when you lie, remember?"

Kate put her hand on her neck. "Crap, you're right! I'll just have to play it chill."

"It's "play it cool". Geez, you sound like Ziva!"

"Whatever! Just play along!"

"Okay, I got you."

The door to the bathroom opened and Jane walked in back in the room.

Tony sat up in bed, seeing the brunette for the first time. "Wow, she's hot!"

Kate elbowed Tony in the stomach. "My friends are off limits to you!"

"She's not your friend, she's Maura's! Which means she's free game!" Tony stood up, extending his hand to Jane. "You must be Jane. I'm Tony."

Jane shook the man's hand. "DiNozzo, right? You were the one I talked to on the phone. You hung up on me! Twice!"

"I'm sorry about that! Maura was really busy that day and I was holding on to her phone for her."

"I see."

"So, what brings you to Washington?"

"Maura told me she got a concussion and I wanted to come down and make sure she is okay. But I see you've been taking care of her just fine. It was really nice of you to stay the night with her. In her bed. In your boxers." Jane looked down towards Tony's undergarments.

Tony laughed nervously as he examined his sleepwear. "Yeah? This…this probably looks bad."

"You said it, not me."

Kate put her hand over her eyes in embarrassment. "Tony, go put your clothes on!"

Tony grabbed his clothes off the sofa and went into the bathroom.

"Jane!" exclaimed Kate.

Jane laughed. "Sorry Maura, I couldn't resist!"

"Very mature!"

"He's kind of cute! Definitely a step up from Dennis! And twenty steps up from Giovanni!"

"There's nothing going on, Jane."

"Okay," Jane flopped down on the sofa. "So how have you been?"

Kate sat down next to Jane. "Okay for the most part."

"That's a nasty looking bandage you got on your head."

"I hit my head on the ground. It's not as bad as it looks."

"What happened?"

"Tony and I were heading out to dinner when we heard gunshots. We were trying to get to his car when this car came barreling through. Tony pushed me out the way and subsequently I ended up with a grade 3 concussion."

"Grade 3 out of what?"

"Three out of three. Which means I lost consciousness from five minutes to twenty-four hours."

"You were unconscious?"

"Only for a few hours."

"Holy shit, Maura! You are supposed to call someone when something like this happens. What if something serious had of happened to you?"

"I'm fine, Jane. Aside from some headaches and few bouts with nausea, I'm okay." Kate put her hand over her neck. She didn't mention the fake that she woke up a completely different person than she thought she was.

"Thank God but you are not leaving my sight until I'm sure you are okay."

Kate smiled as she sipped her coffee. "You sound like your mother!"

"Not funny. I took the rest of the week off so I'll be here to take care of you and then we can fly back to Boston once you're better. So, Agent What's-His-Face is going sleep in his own bed because I'm on the couch."

"Okay, Mommy!" joked Kate in a kiddy voice.

Jane rolled her eyes.

Tony walked out of the bathroom, now dressed in his suit. "I think this is more appropriate."

"I would say so," replied Jane. "You are free to go Agent DiNardo. I got Maura. I'm going to be sleeping on the couch and would appreciate it if you slept in your own bed."

"Jane?" scolded Kate.

"It's DiNozzo," corrected Tony. "And I can't leave."

"Why not? I'm here, you don't have to look after her anymore."

Tony looked at Kate. They both knew that the reason he couldn't leave was because Kate was technically still in NCIS custody but telling Jane that would open up a can of worms. "My boss has asked that I stay with Maura and look after her. If I leave I'll be going against orders."

"She's not a criminal. You don't have to guard her."

"Orders are orders, Detective."

"Jane, he's just doing his job," said Kate.

"Just pretend I'm not even here! Go about your usual girliness. You know, hair, nails, pillow fighting in your underwear!" Tony smiled to himself at the thought of the two woman pillow fighting.

Both Jane and Maura give Tony dirty looks.

"Really?" questioned Jane.

"I probably should have kept that last one to myself," replied Tony.

"You think?"

"Um, I'm going to go grab some coffee," Tony left the room.

Jane looked at Kate. "Is he serious? Pillow fighting in our underwear? How does someone like that become a NCIS agent?"

"I don't know? He smiled!" replied Kate, in disbelief.

Meanwhile at NCIS, FBI agent Tobias Fornell, stood in Gibbs' "office" listened in shock as Gibbs explained the situation.

"You have got to be kidding me?" said Fornell. "She's really alive?"

"And kicking!" replied Gibbs, sipping his coffee inside the dimly lit elevator.

"All my years as an agent I always thought that replacement was just a myth. I never actually heard of it happening."

"Me either. Not until now. And to Kate of all people."

"Whatever caused this must have been big. She has absolutely no recollection of what happened?"

"None. Vance thinks that she may have gone rogue started working for the other side. If I don't get some answers soon I'm afraid Vance is going to use the Patriot Act to arrest her."

"Kate was a renegade but she would never go against her country. Hell, she was afraid to take on this operation in the first place because she felt she was betraying you!"

"Somebody has to know what happened.

"I want to help you, Gibbs but the FBI was only involved in Twilight to ensure that NCIS didn't do anything to jeopardize our link to Al-Quada. The only people who would know what happened had to be working for NCIS."

"I looked over the list. SecNav and Director Marrow only assigned Kate to this operation."

"Might want to read again, Jethro. Kate wasn't the only agent on this operation."

"Her name was the only one on the list."

"Shepard's name should have been there too, seeing she was the NCIS agent leading the operation."

"Jenny was working Twilight?"

"Yeah, she had been following Ari since she was overseas. That wasn't in the case file?"

"No."

"I hate to tell you this, Gibbs. But I think you have a cover up on your hands."

**This case just getting more and more complicated, doesn't it? What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is going soon :-)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay, before you all start to curse me out for how long it took me to post this (a lashing I definitely deserve), let me explain. This chapter was hard as hell for me to write for some reason and when I finally did get it down, my computer deleted it so I had to start over. I'm really sorry about the lateness and don't intend for it to happen again. So with that…**

**Here we go! Chapter 14! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it.**

"It's a cover up?" asked Vance as he sat at his desk.

"Jenny's name wasn't listed in the file," said Gibbs, pacing back and forth.

"You don't think?"

"According to Fornell, she was the leading agent on the operation."

"I asked for answers about Kate and instead you come to me and tell me that the operation file has been tempered with?"

"I'm afraid so."

Vance slumped back in his chair.

"This all has to be connected. Kate, Jenny, Selsi, they all have to do with this Twilight operation. We want answers we have to find out what happened during that operation."

"And how do you suggest we do that?"

"We need to find out what this Selsi is. Marrow was the agency director at the time, he has to have some insight."

"You got to be kidding me? You want me to call Director Marrow? The man is retired! He lives in the mountains of Montana now. I can't just call him and ask about an eight year old operation."

"We need answers, Leon, he might have them."

"And what if he doesn't?"

"Then we keep looking. I'll turn this agency upside down if I have to."

"Why does that statement not surprise me?"

"I have to get to the bottom of this. I need to know what happened to my agent."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Good," Gibbs headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"For what?"

"Hopefully to find some answers."

Gibbs carried the last of the file boxes down into his basement, placing them underneath the frame of his current boat project. They were boxes full of Jenny's old files. When she died, Gibbs and Mike Franks went to her house, taking anything they thought might have been of importance. Gibbs had just piled the boxes up in his garage, never really looking inside but something was telling him it was time to take a look.

Sitting down on his stool, he looked at his watch, 9 a.m., the day was just beginning. He sighed to himself and opened the first box. Hours, cups of coffee, and maybe a little Bourbon, passed as Gibbs went through box after box of files looking for anything related to Kate and the Twilight operation. He was coming up empty. Ready to throw in the towel, he just couldn't. He had to keep going not just for himself but for Kate. He pulled over another box and removed the top, what he saw made him glad he decided to continue.

There in plain sight was a file identical to the one in Kate's drawing, the label clearly reading Twilight. Gibbs opened the file and in front of him were two pages identical to the lists of persons involved in Twilight file Skylar had discovered except for these two pages had Jenny's name listed on them. Putting the pages aside, the next was a surveillance photo of Kate with Ari, his hand placed ever so carefully on her waist as the he kissed her on the cheek, it was just one of several photos of the pair. Gibbs' stomach flipped every which way at the thought of Kate with Ari. He moved on to the next document in the file, it was a letter addressed to Kate but Gibbs did not recognize the hand writing. He opened the envelope.

_Kate,_

_If you are reading this letter, it means that the plan has worked and you are now safe. I apologized for the extremes that had to be taken for this to happen but it was the only way to ensure that you would be out of harm's way…_

Gibbs' eyebrows furrowed as he continued to read. Coming to the end of the letter, Gibbs felt as if your heart had fallen out of his chest. "Oh Kate," sighed Gibbs. "How could I let this happen to you?"

At the hotel, Jane had made herself comfortable changing to a pair of black and green Boston Celtics basketball shorts and a black tank top, curling up on half the couch to watch sports highlights on Sports Center while Kate relaxed on the other side, a blanket draped over the pair of them.

"Where is Agent DiNozzo? He left half an hour ago for those burgers!" groaned Jane.

"You are really like a whiny child, Jane. Be patient," replied Kate.

"Patient my ass! All I had to eat this morning was airplane peanuts! I'm hungry!"

Just then Tony stumbled through the door carrying three white paper bags in one hand and a cup holder with three drinks in the other.

"About time, DiNozzo!"

"Forgive me Rizzoli, it's kind of hard to carry your bacon cheeseburger with the works, large fries and supersized drink with just two hands," snapped Tony.

Jane rolled her eyes before taking the bags from Tony and distributing the food amongst the three of them.

Tony sat down on the floor next to Kate. "How you feeling, Maura?"

"My head hurts a little but I'm okay for the most part," replied Kate.

"Why don't you eat and then you can take an aspirin and lay down for a while? Try to get some sleep?"

Kate nodded. "Okay."

Tony ran his hand gentle over the side of Kate's face. "I think you can take your badge off soon too. Don't have to look like a Looney Tune anymore."

Kate smiled.

Jane rolled her eyes as she sipped her soda. "Can you two please knock it off? You're going to make me throw up my lunch and I haven't even eaten it yet!"

Tony cut his eyes at Jane before looking at the television. "Come on, Rizzoli! Are you still watching sports? You've seen this highlight reel three times already."

"You got a problem with sports?"

"No, just don't exactly like watching the same game over and over. You were watching these same highlights when I left!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"Actually you were, Jane. This is the fourth time they have announced Rajon Rondo scoring thirty points in last night's game. Any chance he is related to our Rondo?" said Kate.

"I highly doubt it. And are you siding with him?"

Tony took the remote from Jane. "There has to be something better on!" Tony started flipping through the channels. "Here you go, The Bourne Identity!"

"Oh yeah, Maura and I have seen this."

"Have we?" questioned Kate.

"Yeah, remember it's the one with the guy who wakes up with amnesia and has no idea who he really is so he goes around trying to figure who he is and come to find out he's like this assassin."

"I don't recall this film."

"Come on, you and I talked about how it's a bunch of cinematic bullshit because the whole changing identities and "I can't remember why" bit isn't realistic."

"Ah yes! I think I fell asleep halfway through it."

"You see why I don't like watching movies with you? If it's not a documentary or a foreign film that requires a translator, you completely zone out!"

"You feel asleep during "La Dolce Vita!""

"It was either that or die of boredom. I don't speak Italian, I didn't understand a word they were saying!"

"There were subtitles."

"I watch movie to watch them, not read them!"

Tony laughed. "An Italian who doesn't speak Italian. That's ironic."

"Being able to tell a woman she's hot, doesn't exactly count as fluent Italian, DiNozzo," smirked Kate.

"At least I know some of the language! And you think The Bourne Identity is cinematic what?" questioned Tony.

"Cinematic bullshit!" replied Jane.

"How? This movie is awesome!"

"Yeah, it's a great movie but the concept is crap! Nobody gets amnesia, forgets who they are, go out and start a new life as a totally different person only to be hit upside the head years later and realize who they really are."

"People get amnesia and forget who they are."

"Temporarily. A few days maybe but years no!"

"Jane's right, amnesia usually affects one's ability to recall and form memories, it usually doesn't affect their ability to identify themselves," said Kate, out of Maura habit.

Tony stared at Kate. "Is that right, Dr.…Maura…Isles?"

Kate didn't respond.

Jane studied the pair's interaction. "All I'm saying is the reality of it all is that those characters are just hiding who they really are and pretending to be someone else because they are either running from something or covering for something. Want to make these movies realistic? Arrest their ass, throw them in jail for fraud and roll the credits!"

"And that Rizzoli, is why you would never make it in Hollywood," said Tony.

"It's the truth! They want me to feel compassion for someone who has been going around hurting and deceiving people. Not going to happen!"

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh? Some of these characters don't change identities to hurt or deceive anyone. They don't have a choice in the matter. It's life or death."

"Nope."

Tony looked at Kate. "Okay, let's say that Maura here woke up from her concussion and suddenly realized that she wasn't a medical examiner at all. Let's say she was really, I don't know, your average, everyday federal agent by the name of Kate Todd, who by some event beyond her explanation, was forced to take on the identity and life of Maura Isles. How would you react?"

Kate nearly choked on her lunch at Tony's question.

"What kind of question is that?" asked Jane, her mouth full of burger.

"A hypothetical one," said Tony. "How would you react if you found out your best friend, Maura Isles, wasn't really who you thought she was? Her whole existence was just a cover?"

Jane was quiet as she pondered the question. "Well it all depends really."

"On what?"

"On why did she was lying to me? Is she in some type of trouble? Did she commit a crime she is trying not to get caught for?"

"She doesn't know. She can't remember. All she knows is that she really isn't Maura, she's Kate."

"Well, first of all, this would never happen because A, I couldn't image Maura being a cop in any life! And B, she couldn't keep up the lie, her hives would gave her away."

"But what if she was."

"I would hope that after all we have been through that she would trust me enough to tell me the truth, no matter how ugly it may be and know that I would do anything in my power to help her."

"Really?" asked Kate.

"Yeah. Of course, that would be after I charged you for impersonating a doctor," joked Jane.

Kate playfully slapped Jane in the arm.

Jane laughed. "Why are we even talking about this?"

"Just making small talk," said Tony.

"You sure? Maura is there something you want to tell me?"

Kate shook her head. "No! Nothing!" Kate put her hands on her neck feeling the hives coming. "Let's end this conversation and just watch the movie."

Just then there was a knock at the door. Tony jumped up, making his way over to the door where he was surprised to find Gibbs on the other side. "Boss, what are you doing here?"

"Where is Kate? I need to talk to her," said Gibbs, oblivious to presence of Jane, just an earshot away.

Tony stepped into the hallway with Gibbs, pulling to door closed behind him. "Boss we got a bit of a situation here. Jane Rizzoli, Detective Jane Rizzoli from Boston Homicide is here."

"Who is she?"

"She is a colleague of Maura's and also her best friend. She flew in this morning to stay with Maura while she recovers from her concussion. Little does she know, Maura is now Kate."

Gibbs ran his hands through his hair. "Great! Just what I needed right now!"

"What's the matter?"

"I found out what happened to Kate."

"You did? How?"

"I found this," Gibbs pulled out the envelope and handed it to Tony. "Twilight was an operation to bring down a suspected terrorist cell. Kate's job in the operation was to bait the leader of the cell and get whatever information she could from him. Never guess who that was?"

"Don't tell me, Ari?"

"Yep, apparently a phone call from Ari to Kate after the autopsy incident, lead NCIS to believe that Ari may have had feelings for Kate so she her job was too woo him and in turn get intel."

"When you say "woo" you mean like date him? Kate dated Ari?"

Gibbs sighed. "You could say that."

"Kate would never do something as low as that?"

"It was for the operation, Tony. Anyway, he fell for every bit of it. For months she had him believing that she was interested in him romantically."

"So what happened? She wanted to break up and he wasn't ready to let go?"

"The other terrorists Ari was working with found out who Kate was and what was going on between her and Ari and they weren't too happy. They thought that Kate was a threat to their plans and demanded that Ari get rid of her or they were going to overthrow him and take out him and Kate."

"And Ari being the bastard he was, planned to do it. NCIS put her undercover to protect her."

"We might have to start calling that bastard a hero."

"Why would we do that?"

"Because he's the one who faked Kate's death."

**And the plot thickens! What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Here we go! Chapter 15! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it.**

"There's no way," said Tony. "Ari wouldn't fake Kate's death. He nearly killed her once, he wouldn't think twice about doing it again. NCIS put Kate undercover."

"No, we didn't. According to that letter, Ari was the mastermind behind this. The other terrorists wanted Kate dead so instead of giving them the chance to kill her, he did it himself. At least he planned to make it look that way. The raid of the warehouse was a set up, he planned it."

"But how? He killed Kate right in front of us! We saw her get shoot in the head!"

"It was a look alike. Some woman Ari knew who he convinced to switch places with Kate on that rooftop not knowing he was leading her to her death. Ari banked on the fact that I was so fixated on him that I would never notice the difference in the two of them especially after her killed in front of me."

"So he killed an innocent woman in order to save Kate?"

"Yeah."

"Seems like a bastard move to me?"

"As messed up as it maybe, Kate is still alive because of him."

"Still doesn't explain how NCIS was involved?"

"He only had the means to fake Kate's death but he couldn't ensure that she would be safe afterwards. If those other terrorists got any inclination that she was still alive they would have went after her. He had a connection in NCIS so he used it."

"But who in NCIS would be willing to help a terrorist?"

Gibbs sighed. "Jenny."

"Jenny?"

"Jenny didn't just meet Ziva in Cairo, she met Ari too. Of course, he was still a Mossad officer at the time. They were friends until she found out he was moonlighting with Al-Qaeda and was put in charge of the Twilight operation. Ari knew that Jenny was after him but he approached her as a friend. Jenny did what she had to do to protect her agent, even if it meant helping a terrorist. She took her name off the file to cover up what she did."

"You make Ari sound like some type of romantic."

"He may have been a bastard but he was still man. No man is willing to go that far for a woman he just likes."

Tony's blood ran cold at that statement. "Where was Kate when all this was happening? I know for a fact she wouldn't' let an innocent woman be killed to save her own life."

"Ari must have gotten to her while we were inside the warehouse and drugged her. She had no idea what was happening. I want her to see this letter, maybe it will bring back some type of memory for her."

"Good luck doing that with Rizzoli around."

"You need to distract her so I can talk to Kate alone."

"Me? Distract Rizzoli? Boss, I don't think that's going to work. I've only spent the morning with the woman and we haven't exactly hit it off well."

"Is that supposed to surprise me?" Gibbs opened the door and walked back in the room where Jane and Kate sat on the couch followed by Tony.

"Who's this, DiNozzo?" asked Jane.

"Jane Rizzoli, this is Special Agent Leroy Gibbs, he's my boss," explained Tony.

"Please tell me you came to relieve DiNozzo and put Maura and me out of our pain and misery of having to be with him all morning?"

"Ha!" exclaimed Tony. "Really funny, Rizzoli! Aren't you just a peach?"

Gibbs laughed to himself. "No, actually I came here to talk to Maura."

"About what?" asked Jane.

"I just wanted to speak to her about what happened the other day. Would you mind giving us a minute?"

"It's okay, you can talk in front of me. I'm a detective so this is nothing new to me."

"I understand but I would rather talk to Maura alone about this matter."

"Jane, it's okay. I'll be fine," ensured Kate.

"Someone almost killed you, I want to know who. It's not like this is some top secret subject!"

Tony, Gibbs and Kate shared a look.

"What? What's with the look?"

"It's nothing, Jane."

"That wasn't a nothing look, Maura. There something going on here I should know about?"

"Detective, I know that you and Dr. Isles are very close and I understand your concern for her but this is a matter that needs to be handled by NCIS."

"Jane, why don't you and I go and grabbed a cup of coffee? Let them talk," offered Tony.

"No, I'm good."

"Rizzoli?" Tony nodded towards the door.

Jane looked at Maura. "Alright, I'll be back in ten minutes." Jane grabbed her hoodie out her bag before leaving the room with Tony.

"I'm guessing you found something out about Twilight?" said Kate, nervously.

Gibbs sat down next to Kate. "Yep, I did."

"DiNozzo was right, wasn't he? I was on some assassin mission gone wrong? I'm wanted for a murder I can't even remember committing."

Gibbs raised his eyebrow. "You're not exactly the assassin type, Kate."

"Well, what is it?"

"I don't know how to explain this…"

Tony and Jane walked down the street.

"So you going to tell me what's going on or am I going to have to open up my own investigation?" asked Jane.

"What are you talking about, Rizzloi?" a hint of annoyance in his voice towards the woman.

"I'm talking about what happened back there at the hotel. There is obviously something going on that you and your boss don't want me to know about. That's why he asked me to leave and why we are currently walking to a coffeehouse instead of just drinking what they have downstairs."

"It's a really good coffeehouse."

Jane stopped in front of Tony. "I know something is going on. What is it? Is Maura in trouble?"

"No, now keep walking!"

Tony tried to pass Jane but she stepped in his way. "If something happened to her, as her best friend I deserve to know what so I can help her."

"You aren't exactly qualified to handle this situation, Rizzoli."

"Why? Because I work for the city instead of the feds? Don't dismiss me, DiNozzo! I don't like to be dismissed!"

"I'm not dismissing you, Rizzoli. I just think that this matter might be beyond what you can handle. Hell, I can barely comprehend it myself!"

"Something is off about her. Call it a gut instinct but she isn't herself. She's hiding something from me and I know it. Look whatever it is, I promise not overreact, I just need to be able to be there for my friend."

"You and Maura are really close aren't you?"

"She's like family. Now come, spill it!"

"If I tell you, you have to promise to keep an open mind about it."

"I promise!"

Tony looked around to ensure no one was listening. "Remember when I asked you how you would react if you found out Maura wasn't really the person you thought she was?"

"Yeah."

"It wasn't really a hypothetical question."

Jane paused. "Funny, DiNozzo! You're a real jackass, you know that!"

"I'm serious! Maura isn't really the person you think she is."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Who is she then?"

"Her name is Kate Todd, she's a former NCIS agent who we thought was murdered eight years ago but we just discovered that it was all a set up."

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now?"

"It's the truth, Rizzoli. We had our forensic scientist do a DNA test and it was a match. Dr. Maura Isles is really Special Agent Kate Todd."

"Bullshit!"

"You don't believe me?" Tony reached into his pocket to pull out his wallet. He pulled out a badge and handed it to Jane.

"What is this?"

"That's Kate's ID badge. Look familiar?"

Jane stared at the NCIS Special Agent badge with the name Caitlin Todd printed on it. Next to it was a photo of a brunette woman who looked exactly like Maura. "Nope! That's not her! She must be her twin or something. This woman has brown hair, Maura is a blonde! I mean Maura was adopted so it's possible that she has a twin she doesn't know about?"

"She doesn't have a twin, Rizzoli. Maura is really Kate Todd. We are working to get to the bottom of this. Kate was suffering from some type of amnesia that has prevented her from remembering anything about her life before she became Maura…"

Jane didn't hear a word that Tony said, she just stared at him trying her best to comprehend what she was hearing.

"So you see we're…"The next thing Tony knew, Jane was storming past him heading back to the hotel. "Rizzoli, where are you going?"

Jane didn't reply as she increased her speed, her long legs putting a great distance between her and Tony.

"Rizzoli!" shouted Tony. Unresponsive, Tony took off after her.

At the hotel, Gibbs' eyes were focused in on Kate who sat on the couch next to him, her face blank of expression.

"Oh my god," whispered Kate, burying her head in her hands.

"Do you remember any of this, Kate?" asked Gibbs.

"I'm not sure, the name Ari sounds familiar but I can't put a face to it."

Gibbs reached into his jacket and pulled out one of the surveillance photos of Kate and Ari. "That's Ari."

Kate mouth dropped open as he looked at the man. "That's the man from my dreams!"

"Dreams?"

"After I got the concussion, I started to have these dreams and he was in them."

"What were they about?"

"Different things, they never really made much sense."

"Maybe you were recalling what happened? Does the word Selsi mean anything to you?"

"No. I don't know? I don't know anything! All this is happening and I have no idea how or why…" Kate voice became shaky with tears as she rubbed her temples feeling a headache coming on.

Gibbs placed his arm around Kate's shoulder, pulling her close to him. "Don't stress yourself, Kate. We are making progress. The important part is that you are not in any danger. I know it must be hard not knowing how you ended up like this but at least you know that no one is after you."

"I guess? I have to Jane what is going on."

"You sure you want to do that?"

"She's my best friend, Gibbs. We don't keep secrets from each other, at least we try not to."

"Yeah but this isn't just any secret, Kate."

"She deserves to know the truth, Gibbs. If I knew Jane, she will be rational about all of this."

Just then the door flung open and in stormed Jane stormed in.

"Is there a problem, Detective?" asked Gibbs.

"Yeah, her!" spat Jane.

"What's wrong, Jane?" asked Kate, unsure of where her friend sudden hostility was coming from.

"Who is Kate, Maura?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't you fucking play dumb with me! Tony showed this to me," Jane threw the ID badge at Kate.

Tony came huffing and puffing into the room. "Geez, Rizzoli! Did you run track in high school or something? You move fast!" Tony looked at Kate, noticing the ID badge in her hands. "Oh crap!"

"What the hell is going on? DiNozzo is talking about you got hit in the head and suddenly realized that you were this Kate woman!"

"Jane, let me explain…"

"Maura, the next words that come out your mouth better be this is all a big misunderstanding."

Kate looked to Gibbs for some type of guidance.

"Rizzoli, sit down," said Gibbs.

"No, I'm not sitting down!" Jane looked Kate straight in the eyes. "Start talking, Maura!"

Kate got up and slowly approached Jane. "Jane, just listen to me please. What Tony told you is true, my name isn't really Maura Isles, it's Kate Todd. I can explain. At least I can try too."

Jane laughed nervously, backing away from Kate. "You're lying, Maura. You know you break out in hives when you lie."

"I'm not breaking out in hives Jane because I'm not lying to you. Please will you just sit down so we can talk about this?"

Jane shook her head. "No! No fucking way!" Jane headed for the door.

Kate followed her. "Jane, please?"

Jane turned around, squaring up with Kate, anger in her eyes. "Look, I don't know who the hell you are but I suggest you back the hell off before I kill you myself!" Jane walked out the door, slamming it shut so hard it made the room shake.

"DiNozzo?" questioned Gibbs.

"She promised me she wouldn't overact, that's the only reason I told her! She said she wanted to help," said Tony.

"I should go after her," said Kate.

Gibbs got up. "No Kate, stay here with Tony. Let me talk to her."

**Man, Jane isn't taking this reveal well at all! What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey guys! So it was pointed out to me in the last chapter that I said that twins DO NOT have matching DNA when in fact they DO. Science wasn't my strongest subject in school, so I apologize for the inaccuracy. I went back and tweaked that part a bit but all that really matters is that Maura is Kate! So with that…**

**Here we go! Chapter 16! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it.**

Gibbs tried to catch up with Jane at the hotel but by the time he made it to the lobby, she was gone. After an hour long trek on foot, he finally found her perched at the corner of a hole in the wall bar, a mug of beer in front of her and an empty one next to it. Gibbs approached the detective just as the bartender sat a shot glass of clear liquid in front of her. "You are one hard woman to track down, Detective Rizzoli."

Jane looked at the agent as she downed the shot. "I thought I told you fuck off?"

Gibbs sat down on the stool next to Jane. "Not the first time I've heard that."

"Seriously Agent Gibbs, leave me alone."

"I know this is a lot to take in, Jane. But hear me when I say she didn't do this on purpose. Maura's intention was never to hurt anyone, she was forced into this."

"Whatever. She lied to me."

"Not because she wanted too.

"A lie is a lie."

"Maura is a genuine person, Jane."

"How can you say that?"

"Because Kate is a genuine person. A person who deserves to at least have her side of the story heard by her best friend before she gets written off."

"I was friends with Maura not Kate! And I think I've heard all I need to hear from either of them. So now if you will excuse me, I prefer to drink alone."

"You're not going to find the answers you're looking for in that mug."

"It's a start!"

She needs you right now, Jane."

"I really could care less what she needs."

"You don't mean that."

"Yes, I do."

"I find it hard to believe that there is not one part deep down inside of you that wants to know what happened to your friend."

The hand gesture from Jane let Gibbs know that the conversation was going nowhere.

Gibb sighed. "Fine, I can see you are not in the mood to talk," He picked up a cocktail napkin and pulled a pen out his pocket to write down a number. "Here, this is my number, if you change your mind." He turned to leave.

At the hotel, Tony sat on the sofa with Kate. His arm around her, Kate rested her head on his shoulder as they sat silently together.

"She hates me! I know it!" whispered Kate.

"No, she doesn't. She's just in shock," replied Tony.

"My entire world is falling apart around me!"

"Your world isn't falling apart, Kate. It's just a little mixed up right now," Tony gently rubbed Kate's shoulder to comfort her.

"You say that because this isn't happening to you."

"But I'm in this with you. Jane, will come around just give her time."

"What if she doesn't? Jane is the only friend I have. I don't want to lose her friendship over this. Not again."

"I don't think she's the only friend you have. You got me."

"I don't even deserve you. Not with all that I have put you through."

"You haven't put me through anything, Kate.

"I know these last few days haven't been the easy on you, Tony."

"This isn't about me. This is about you. My concern is that you are okay. And until I can be sure that you are in fact okay, I'm not going anywhere! Not unless you want me too?"

"No, please don't! Having you around is the only thing keeping me sane through all this."

Tony smiled to himself. "Glad I can help."

Silence came between the pair.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, my head is hurting but I'm fine."

"You need to stop worrying about Rizzoli. Here," Tony propped up a pillow on the side of the sofa. Keeping Kate in his hold, he laid back allowing Kate to recline against him. "Lay here and rest for a while." Tony pulled the blanket that she and Jane had been sharing from beside him and draped it over them, making sure that Kate got most of the cover.

More silence filled the room as they laid on the sofa together.

Kate fidgeted with a ring on her finger. "I was dating a terrorist, Tony."

"You were doing your job."

"That included me dating a terrorist, and the sad part of it all is that I can't remember any of it. I guess this must be how you feel after all your relationships?"

Tony couldn't help but smile. "I wish I could forget some of them."

"From the look of these pictures it looks like we were pretty serious."

"You were good at your work. Always were."

"Apparently not good enough or else none of this would have happened." Kate paused. "You think I was in love with him?"

"What?"

"But Gibbs said he was in love with me."

"Yeah, him with you not the other way around."

"I could have been. It's quite possible that during the course of the operation I fell in love with him as well."

Tony cringed at the thought. "You would never fall for a guy like Ari. He's not your type!"

"How would you know what my type is?"

"I don't but I know he isn't it!"

"What do you even know about love, "Sex Machine"?"

"I've been in love."

Kate looked at Tony. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"What was her name?"

"Ruth…but I liked to call her mom!"

Kate laughed.

Tony smiled. "No, but seriously, I was in love once."

"Do tell."

"Nothing became of it. I never told her how I felt and I missed my chance. Spent many years wondering what if."

"I don't think I've ever really been in love. I've had several great sexual relationships but never been in love. I'm not even sure I believe it's possible to find your true love."

"You only say that because you haven't found true love."

"I'll probably never find true love."

"I'm sure your true love is out there somewhere. You just haven't found him yet or maybe you have you just don't know it yet?"

"Maybe?" Kate relaxed against Tony's chest. "You should have told her."

"Told who what?"

"The woman how you felt about her. You never know, maybe she felt the same way. You two could have ran off and lived happily ever after."

"It wasn't meant to be."

"You never know. Maybe she was your true love."

Tony gazed down at Kate. "Maybe she was."

Kate yawned. Making herself comfortable at Tony's side, she closed her eyes. "Tony?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you have my old I.D. on you?"

"What?"

"You showed Jane my old I.D. badge. Why do you have it?"

Tony hesitated. "Because I…" Tony was about to finish when Kate rested her arm on his chest, having fallen asleep in his arm. He smiled as he pulled Kate closer to him, kissing the top of her honey blonde locks.

Later that night, Jane clumsily made her way into Kate's hotel room. Four mugs of beer and several shots were making walking straight a bit of a task for her. Trying her hardest to stay quiet, she staggered her way around the dimly lit room picking up her things and throwing them into her bag.

The sound of water running from the bathroom startled her. She turned around to come face to face with Kate walking out the bathroom.

"Jane!" said Kate, surprised to see her friend. "Where have you been?"

"Out," snapped Jane.

"You've been gone for hours. I was worried."

"Can't say I was worried about you."

Kate noticed Jane packing up her things. "What are you doing?"

"Getting my stuff. I'm leaving," Jane zipped up her bag and picked it up, staggering a bit under its weight.

"Where are you going?"

"Anywhere you aren't," she headed for the door nearly falling over the chair.

Kate grabbed Jane by the arm to help balance her. "Jane, have you been drinking?"

"What is it to you?" Jane pulled her arm away forcefully.

"You're drunk! You don't need to be wandering around like this, stay here!"

"I'm fine. Now excuse me!"

"Jane, please? Look, I'll leave if it makes you feel better but please stay here."

"Don't do me any favors." Jane opened the door.

"Jane?"

Jane leaned her head against the door. "You know of all the people in my life, I thought you would be the last to lie to me."

"I didn't lie to you, Jane."

"Yes, you did!"

"I didn't even know I was lying to you. Up until a few days ago I was Maura Isles and then all of sudden I wake up and realized that that isn't who I really am! I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth."

"Yeah, right?"

"Jane, it's me. I'm still Maura, part of me is anyway."

"No, you're not!" Jane walked out the door.

Kate ran into the doorway. "Jane…"

Jane stopped unable to turn around to face Kate.

"I would never lie to you, you are my friend and I would never do deliberately do anything to ruin that. I know it's asking a lot of you but if you would please stick around long enough to help me figure this all out it would mean a lot to me. Everything seems to be going very wrong for me right now and I would like be able to hold on to the few things that right."

Jane simply shook her head. "Goodbye, Maura."

Kate watched as Jane descended down the hallway and disappeared around the corner.

Jane stood in front of the elevator, waiting for the slow moving lift to arrive. She leaned against the wall, her alcoholic comforter getting the best of her along with the flood of emotions she was feeling about the situation with Maura.

The elevator doors opened and Jane stepped inside and repeatedly pressing the button to the first floor hoping the door would hurry up and close. The doors finally slid together and Jane lost it. A heavy sob escaped her body as tears flowed freely. She wasn't really sure why she was crying, her emotions were all over the place. She was sad, anger, confused and scared all at the same time. Her intention was to get as far away from Maura as possible but yet Maura was on the forefront of her mind. Jane reached into her pocket to find something to wipe her eyes only to pull out the cocktail napkin Gibbs had wrote on. She stared at the number. "No! No! Screw her! I'm not doing this!" She balled the napkin up in her fist.

Gibbs was in his basement, busy working away at his latest boat project. He heard the sound of the front door open and close as footsteps made their way towards the basement door. He remained undisturbed. "I see you found the place okay."

Jane dropped her bag at the top the stairs. "What type of federal agent doesn't lock their front door?"

"Are you here to hear about me or Maura?" Gibbs continued working.

Jane walked down the stairs. "I don't really know why I'm here at all." Jane stood on the bottom step.

Gibbs stopped what he was doing. He turned around to see Jane standing there, her eyes still red with tears. "Rizzoli?"

Jane wiped the last of the tears from her eyes. "I'm fine, okay? Let's just get this over with."

Gibbs stared at Jane for a moment before going back to his work. "It's late. Why don't you go crash on the couch? This can wait until morning."

"Gibbs, I…"

"Sleep, Rizzoli. You look like you could use it."

"Come on, Gibbs."

"Goodnight, Jane."

Jane rolled her eyes before heading back up the stairs.

Awhile later, Gibbs made his way upstairs to find Jane asleep on his couch. He walked over and readjusted the blanket back over her slender frame. He noticed the glow of her phone coming from her hand. He careful removed the phone, noticing the screen. The top of the screen read "Maura" in the box below she had begun to write a message. Gibbs hit what he thought was the off button, only to pull up the home screen on the phone. On the screen was a picture of Jane and Kate making funny faces into the camera. Gibbs sighed. "You care, Rizzoli. That's why you're here."

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hey guys! Just wanted to say thank you for helping me with my little scientific dilemma in the previous chapters. You guys are the best!**

**Here we go! Chapter 17! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it.**

The next morning Jane woke to the smell of coffee permeating through air. Stretching out her arms, she sat up and instantly felt what she knew would be one hell of a hangover.

"Here, this might help."

Jane looked up to see Gibbs standing in front of her with a cup of coffee in hand. She took the cup. "Thanks."

"Sleep well?"

"Not really, this sofa of yours sucks!"

"Suits me just fine."

"Go figure," Jane took a sip of the coffee, frowning as she swallowed the liquid. "Whoa! Is this coffee or gasoline?"

Gibbs just smiled as he sipped his cup. "I take it you don't like your coffee black?"

"Not really!"

Gibbs went to retrieve Jenny's file box from the corner and placed it on the coffee table.

"What's this?"

"Everything you want to know. For the most part."

"This is a file box."

"Good detective work, Rizzoli!"

Jane took the lid off the box seeing all the documents inside. "Can't you just tell me what happened? I'm not really in the mood to read all this right now."

"Can't, I have to get to work. Sit down, get comfortable. There's no rush, you are welcome here. I put some towels in the bathroom upstairs if you want to shower."

"Seriously Gibbs, I got Alex Van Halen playing a drum solo in my head right now."

Gibbs just looked at Jane.

"The drummer from Van Halen? Ever heard of them?"

"That a band?"

"Whoa!"

"Read the file, Rizzoli. I'll see you later." Gibbs left.

Jane sighed. Taking another sip of the awful coffee, Jane pulled out the file. Flopping down on the sofa, she began to read.

Kate sat impatiently in Tony's living room. "I really don't know why I couldn't just stay at the hotel?"

"Because," came Tony's voice from the bathroom. "I'm not comfortable leaving you by yourself and I haven't changed clothes in two days!"

"I'm not a child, Tony. I can take care of myself. I mean what if this had of happened and you weren't there? I would have had to care for myself."

"But I was there! Therefore sit there like a good girl while I shower!"

Kate listened as Tony turned on the shower. "Could you at least close the door to the bathroom? I really don't need to see you in the shower!"

"Then don't look! Why don't you make yourself useful and find us something for breakfast? I think I may have some eggs in fridge. Whether or not they are any good is another story? Not home much."

"I'm supposed to be resting not making you breakfast!"

"I like mine scrambled, thanks!"

Kate rolled her eyes before she got up and made her way into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator she found a carton of eggs along with some bacon and cheese. Placing the ingredients on the counter, she noticed a bag of potatoes sitting in the corner. After thinking for a moment, she started on breakfast for her and Tony.

Awhile later, Tony emerged from the shower, dressed in casual clothes.

"Took you long enough!" said Kate, standing over the stove. "Sit down, foods almost done."

"Well look at you! Being Maura turned you into a little Susie Homemaker, huh?" Tony flashed Kate a cheeky smile.

"Shut up!" replied Kate, sliding some of the dish on a plate in front of Tony.

Tony studied the food in front of him consisting of bits of egg, cheese, bacon and potato. "Wow! This looks…a mess! What is this?"

"Jane calls it egg scramble. Basically you take whenever you have in your fridge and scramble it together with an egg. She would make it for us on nights we worked late, it was an easy meal."

"Looks like a Rizzoli kind of meal."

"Try it, it tastes way better than it looks."

Tony cautiously picked up his fork, trying the food on his plate. "Mmm! This isn't half bad!"

"I told you!"

"Might have to steal this from Rizzoli."

Kate laughed. "I'll let her know you like it when I see…" Kate paused.

"Hey, forget about her. She's not worth stressing yourself over."

"Yes, she is. She's my best friend, was my best friend. Not exactly easy to just forget about her. I would have thought she would have at least given me a chance."

"I know not having Jane on your side is hard but right now, you really need to focus on yourself. Okay?"

Kate didn't say anything.

Tony got up and pulled out a chair for Kate. "Here, sit down and eat some of this egg thingy with me." Tony helped Kate into the chair before going to the kitchen to get her a plate. He returned to the table and placed some of the food on it for Kate. "So I was thinking we could hang out here today? Get you out your hotel for a while? I have an awesome movie collection."

"Sure, why not? I could use a change of scenery."

"Maybe I'll make you lunch later?"

"You cook?"

"No, but I am a whiz at ordering Chinese!"

"You are a mess," smiled Kate as she ate some of her food.

Tony's cellphone rang. "DiNozzo? Hey Boss…She's fine, she just made us breakfast. Who knew our little Katie could cook?" Tony smiled at Kate. "Are you sure about that, Gibbs...Okay, I'll bring her in. Bye." Tony hung up the phone. "Change of plans, Gibbs needs you down at NCIS."

Kate groaned. "I really don't want to deal with him today."

"Maybe going to NCIS will help you get your mind off Jane? Unlike Jane, there are a few people who are really happy to find out you aren't really Maura Isles."

At NCIS, McGee and Ziva watched as Abby paced up and down the aisle.

"Where are they?" asked Abby, fidgeting with the rings on her fingers. "Gibbs said they were on their way, they should be here by now!"

"Abby, would you calm down," said Ziva, a tad bit annoyed with the scientist.

"Calm down? Calm down? Ziva, I just found out that my very dear friend, best friend, a friend who I thought I lost forever, is still alive and has been subjected to some involuntary identity change that neither she nor anyone else for that matter seems to be able to explain. Excuse me, if I'm just a bit anxious to see her again!"

"I just feel that maybe you should dial back on the excitement a little. We do not know the entire story of what happened to Kate, the truth could turn out to be something you do not like."

"It doesn't matter! All that matters is that Kate is alive!"

"I'm with Abby. Though a lot is still unexplained, it's kind of nice to know we have her back," said McGee.

"I only hope that this remains a happy reunion for you all."

Gibbs rounded the corner.

"Gibbs, I thought you said that Tony and Kate were on their way?" inquired Abby.

"They are Abbs, relax. Kate is still recovering from a concussion, I don't want you to jump her when she steps off the elevator," replied Gibbs.

"Why are you having Tony bring Kate in anyway?" asked Ziva.

"We need to finish piecing this story together. We now know what happened to Kate the day she died, the question still remains of what happened after that."

"So what happened to her?"

Gibbs looked at Ziva, unsure of how to address the situation. "Her mark faked her death in order to protect her from being killed by his counterparts."

"Why would he do that?"

"He was in love with her. Anyway, I want us to start focusing on Maura. I got a feeling there may be more than meets the eye."

"You think?" said Abby.

The elevator dinged and off stepped Tony followed by Kate. Overcome with excitement from seeing her friend, Abby squealed before ran to hug Kate.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it's really you!" whispered Abby, holding Kate tightly.

"Hi Abby," replied Kate.

Abby released Kate, looking her up and down as she wiped tears from her eyes. "God, you look exactly the same. Minus the hair and the fancy clothes! Not that you didn't wear nice clothes!" Abby hugged Kate again. "You don't know how much I missed you, Kate. Things around here weren't the same without you."

Kate could feel tears swelling up in her eyes as she hugged Abby. "I missed you too, Abbs."

Abby took hold of Kate's hand and lead her over to Tony's desk, where a bouquet of black roses, a teddy bear and a card were proudly displayed. Abby held out the bear to Kate. "Here, I got this for you."

Kate took the bear. "Abby, you shouldn't have."

Abby handed Kate the card. "Read it!"

Kate looked at Tony before opening the card. "Congratulations on your new arrival?"

"Abby, this is a baby card! It's got pink bottles and pacifiers on it!" said Tony.

"I know! It's a metaphor. It's kind of like Kate has been reborn so!"

"So you got her a baby card? That's a little weird don't you think?"

"No."

Kate smiled. "You haven't changed one bit, Abby. Thank you!"

Abby smiled.

McGee got up and approached Kate. "I guess now it makes sense why I look so grown up to you. Welcome back, Kate!" McGee hugged her.

"It's nice seeing you again, Tim. Geez, last time I saw you were this nervous newbie trying to figure out his way, now look at you!" smiled Kate.

"I had some good teachers."

"If you all are doing getting reacquainted, we have work to do!" spat Gibbs.

"Sorry," apologized Abby and McGee.

Gibbs pulled his chair out from behind his desk, allowing Kate to sit down.

"What is all this about, Gibbs?" asked Kate.

"I need to know everything there is to know about Maura Isles."

"Like what?"

"Everything. Start at the beginning, the moment you remember Kate ending and Maura beginning."

"And how does this help?"

"I just want the full picture."

"Gibbs, my memory is still hazy on a lot of things."

"Take your time. Think." Gibbs sat on the corner of his desk, facing Kate. "We were in the warehouse, you followed me up the stairs to the roof. Do you remember that?"

Kate took a deep breath before closing her eyes trying to focus her thoughts. She nodded her head as memories of that day came to her.

"What do you see?"

"I'm following you up the stairs. You ran out the door to help Tony. I was about to run out behind up but then…"

"Then what?"

Kate's did say anything as she just sat there with her eyes closed for a moment. Suddenly, her eyes popped open. "Someone grabbed me from behind."

"What?"

"They put their hand over my mouth. I tried to fight but I felt a sting in my neck then everything went dark."

"You remember anything after that?"

"No. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital."

"Yeah, I had been really ill and had to hospitalized for dehydration. When I woke up I was in the hospital and my mother was with me."

"Your mother?"

"Yeah."

"Kate, are you sure your mother was there."

"I knew my own mother, Gibbs."

"That doesn't sound right, Boss," said Tony.

"Why not?"

"Maura, has a mother?"

"Yes! I have a mother! Everybody has a mother."

"But Maura shouldn't," said Gibbs. "When your identity is changed, you no longer hold on to family ties. You let go of everything in order to assume the new identity and they don't usually come with family. There's no way that you should have a mother."

"Well, I do!"

Gibbs eyebrow knitted together.

"I'm telling you, Gibbs. I have a mother. Her name is Constance Isles, look her up!"

Gibbs looked over at McGee.

"Already on it, Boss," said McGee as he pulled an image up on the plasma. "Here, she is. Constance Isles, age 64. She's a retire college professor originally from Weybridge, Surry, England. She's married with one daughter."

Gibbs studied the picture of the woman on the screen. "That's your mother, Kate?"

"Yeah, that's her," replied Kate.

A smirk came across Gibbs' face. "That's not your mother."

**Da…da…daaaa! Or whatever that sound is when something big just happened. This just gets crazier and crazier! Is Constance Isles in on this too? What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Here we go! Chapter 18! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it. All original characters (Daniel Levi and Skylar Williams) are my own.**

"What do you mean she's not my mother?" questioned Kate.

"Constance Isles' real name is Constance Johnston. She's a former C.I.A. agent turned U.S. Marshal. During her days at with the C.I.A. she was a part of several very success undercover operations, much like Twilight. When she joined the Marshals, she was made a Chief Deputy United States Marshal, in charge of WITSEC. I should have known that Jenny couldn't pull something like this off on her own."

"You mean to tell me that my mother is not really my mother?" asked Kate.

"My guess is she's your handler. Someone to watch out for you and make sure that you weren't discovered, she can probably tell us more about Maura."

"Meanwhile, my so called life just continues to come undone."

"How might I go about getting into contact with "your mother"?"

"You can call her but she's probably doing a lecture out of country."

"What's the number?"

"555-207-1738."

Gibbs pulled out his cellphone and dialed.

"Are you calling my mother?"

Gibbs placed the phone to his ear. "Yep!"

The phone clicked.

"Constance Isles?" said an English woman on the other line.

"You have really got to learn how to stay in retirement, C.J."

"Gibbs?"

Gibbs smiled. "You know it."

"How the hell did you get this number?"

"I got your number from your daughter. It's funny because I don't remember you having any children."

"My daughter?"

"Ah huh, Maura. She is your daughter, isn't she?"

"Maura is with you?"

"Yeah and you know she bares a strong resemblance to my former agent Caitlin Todd. Oh, that's right! She is Kate!"

"How did you find her?"

"How quickly can you be in my office?"

"Answer my question!"

"I want you in my office, tomorrow morning, C.J."

"I'm in Spain."

"Tomorrow night then."

"Dammit Gibbs…"

Gibbs hung up the phone.

"Did you just hang up on my mother?" questioned Kate.

"I'm sure I'll hear about it tomorrow when she gets here."

"Sweet, we get to meet Maura's mom! Is she as classy as Maura is?" joked Tony.

Kate was quiet. "Would you excuse me?" Kate got up and walked out the Squad Room.

"It was just a joke, Kate. Kate!"

"Give her some space, Tony," said Gibbs. "In the meantime, I want the three of you two find out everything you can about Maura. Every last detail."

Some time had passed and Kate hadn't returned back to NCIS. The elevator dinged and Tony looked up hoping to see Kate but instead caught sight of Jane's bouncy curls approaching as Gibbs and Ziva worked at their desk and McGee handled a phone call. "Rizzoli?"

Gibbs looked up from his work. "Jane? What are you doing here?"

"I got questions and I want answers."

"Is that so? I thought you were planning to leave?"

"Change of plans."

Gibbs raised an eyebrow.

"You might as well wipe that look off your face, I'm not here for Maura."

"Of course you're not."

"I need to know whether or not I can proceed with reporting her to the medical board."

"Why would you do that?" asked Tony.

"Because unless I hear otherwise, Maura has been impersonating a doctor and the appropriate actions need to be taken."

"Appropriate actions like what? Are you going to arrest her?"

"If she is practicing medicine without a license then yes!"

"You got to be kidding me, Rizzoli?"

"No DiNozzo, I'm not! I'm cop and I plan to do my job if need be!"

"She's your friend and she needs your help, not you trying to persecute her!"

"What does this have to do with anyways, DiNozzo?"

"She's my friend!"

"Do you fuck all your friend?"

Ziva and McGee looked at each other, eyes wide.

"Okay, that's enough!" shouted Gibbs.

McGee hung up the phone. "You will be pleased to know that Kate is in fact a licensed doctor and certified medical examiner. She graduated from Boston-Cambridge University in 2008 and become chief medical examiner in 2010."

"There's no way!" said Jane. "Medical school is what? Four years? Along with residency you are talking at least seven years before she would be able to even practice."

"I thought the same thing so I contacted one of her old professors, a Dr. Wilcox from Edinburgh Medical College. According to him, Maura was a "very promising, inquisitive and dedicated student who traded time with her peer for time in the lab." She was taking on average two to three more classes than the other students which she passed flying colors and even took a full load during the summer sessions; she basically finished med school in three years."

"Man, who would have thought Kate would turn into a nerd?" questioned Tony.

"What about her residences?" asked Gibbs.

"Her professors set up a specialized program just for Maura at one of the local hospitals something like onsite teaching, so she was able to gain residency hours while she finished medical school. She's fully qualified."

"You said you talked to a professor at Edinburgh Medical College?" asked Ziva. "I thought you said she went to Boston Cambridge University."

"Edinburgh must be the name of the med school there."

"No, I don't think so," said Jane. "I've been on that campus a few times and I don't remember any building named Edinburgh."

Gibbs tapped his pencil against his desk. "Edinburgh, I know that name from somewhere?"

Kate entered the Squad Room.

"Hey, you're back!" smiled Tony, relieved to see Kate.

"Yes, I'm sorry for storming out like that I just really needed some air," said Kate.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just need some air. So have I missed any other great discoveries about my life?"

Tony cut his eyes in Jane's direction.

Kate looked to see the brunette sitting at the desk avoiding eye contact with her. "Jane?"

"Yeah?" replied Jane, nonchalantly.

"I thought you left?" asked Kate.

"I decided to delay my departure a bit."

"Jane has decided to stick around and help out," said Gibbs.

"Really?" said Kate, a hint of joy in her voice.

"Don't get too excited, I'm here on official police business."

"Jane is looking for a reason to arrest you," interjected Tony.

Kate looked at Jane. "Is that true, Jane?"

Jane was quiet.

Kate sighed. "I see. Well, could you at least tell me what you are planning to charge me with?"

"She's still trying to figure that out," said Gibbs, glancing at Jane. "Meanwhile, Edinburgh Medical College?"

"It's a great school! The oldest established medical school in Scotland and one of the oldest in the English speaking world. I really enjoyed my time there."

"You went to medical school in Scotland?"

"Only for my first three years and then I moved to Boston. I graduated from Boston Cambridge."

"Why would you go to medical school in Scotland?"

"A family friend heard I was interested in medicine and offered me admissions so I went. You're not about to tell me that all this is just a delusion in my mind and that I've been spending the last few years impersonating a doctor without know it?"

"If that were the case, Jane would have you cuff right now. Maura Isles is in fact a doctor."

Kate placed her hand over her chest. "That's a relief. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to return to Boston."

"You still may not be able too," said Jane under her breath.

Gibbs stared at Jane. "You know what," Gibbs pretended to look at his watch. "We have a meeting with the Director in fifteen minutes."

"Meeting? What meeting?" asked Tony.

"Jane, Kate why don't you head back to the hotel and Tony will meet you there later? Agent Levi?"

Daniel jumped up from his desk. "Yes, Gibbs?"

"Could you please escort Detective Rizzoli and Kate back to her hotel please?"

Jane shook her head. "If it's okay with you Agent Gibbs, I'd rather just head back to your place?"

"You stayed at Gibbs' place last night?" asked Kate.

"What is it to you?"

"No, you go with Kate," said Gibbs.

Jane got up and approached Gibbs desk. "Gibbs, I don't…"

"Jane, you and I both know you didn't come here to arrest Kate. You need to talk her now go!"

Jane huffed before heading to the elevator with Kate and Daniel.

The car ride to Kate's hotel was uncomfortable for Daniel as the two women didn't say a word to one another. Jane sat in the back, slouched in her seat, arms crossed over her chest staring out the side window while Kate kept her gaze focused straight out the front window.

Daniel cleared his throat. "So, how long have you known each other?"

"Too long," scoffed Jane.

Kate cut her eyes back at Jane. "Only a few years but we became fast friends."

"Yeah, I really need to be more discerning about whom I call a friend."

"Yes because so many people are lining up to watch Red Sox games with you on the weekend."

"It's a whole lot more than the one's lining up to go to the body exhibit with you!"

"At least I don't have beg, excuse me, bribe my colleagues to show up to my functions."

"At least mine don't have to be drunk to get through mine!"

"So," interjected Daniel, trying to defuse the moment. "You guys are from Boston? I have always wanted to go to Boston."

"Book a flight!" snapped Jane.

"Forgive her," said Kate.

Jane rolled her eyes.

"Well we are almost at the hotel, would you ladies like for me to stay for a while or will you be okay?"

"Stay!" exclaimed Jane.

Kate looked back at Jane. "You don't have to stay Agent Levi, we will be fine."

Daniel looked back at Jane noticing the scowl on her face. "Maybe I will just walk you up."

The group arrived at the hotel and the two women remained quiet as the made their way upstairs to Kate's door.

"Well, ladies here we are," said Daniel stopping at Kate's door.

"Yeah, we sure are," said Jane unenthusiastically.

"Are you sure you two don't need me to stay?"

"No, we are fine," said Kate.

"Okay, well I'll be going then." Daniel turned to leave.

Jane sighed. "Well you going to open the door or are we just going to stand out here all day?" asked Jane.

"You know Jane, I understand your position in this whole situation but your attitude really isn't helping," snapped Kate.

"I have every right to have an attitude _Maura_! Now could you please open the damn door?"

Kate rolled her eyes as she opened her purse searching to the hotel key card.

"Could you hurry up?"

"Could you be patient?"

Jane huffed in annoyance at Kate as she leaned against the opposite wall while Kate searched for the key. Jane put her head down. "I read the Twilight file."

Kate looked up at Jane. "You did?"

"Gibbs let me look at it."

"And then you decided that you wanted to have me arrested?"

"I wanted to hear your side of things."

"Unfortunately, I don't have much of a side to tell seeing as how I can't remember any of it."

"Well at least I know you didn't lie to me on purpose."

"I told you, you can trust me, Jane."

"I will decide that for myself, if you don't mind."

Kate went back to searching her purse.

"I don't mean to have an attitude it's just I'm angry, you know? Maura is my best friend and now I find out that she isn't real, it kind of hurts. Not a lot of people put up with me like she does and I would hate to lose a friendship like hers."

"I'm still Maura, Jane."

"But you're not Maura Isles, you're Caitlin Todd."

"They are one in the same, Jane."

"Yeah well, that's what I'm hoping to find out."

"So you're not here to arrest me?"

"Maura was there for me when Hoyt was after me, when I shot myself, when my parents divorced, Tommy nearly going back to jail. I figured as a friend, I owed it to her to be by her side through something like this. Although, I feel like coping with her going through a sex change would be easier than this!"

Kate laughed.

"You know if you didn't carry a body bag as a purse we would be inside by now!"

"Sorry, the key must have fallen to the bottom of my bag."

Out the side of Jane's eyes she noticed a suspicious looking man watching them from the end of the hallway. The man slowly started to approach them, with his hand in his pocket. Her cop instincts started to kick in, could sense something wasn't right.

"Hurry up, Maura!"

"Jane, stop rushing me," said Kate still searching her bag.

Jane snatched Kate's purse from her searching for the key herself. "What are you doing? Give me my purse!"

"We need to get inside." Jane found the key.

"What's the rush?"

The man stopped halfway down the hall. Jane looked him straight in the eyes as he pull a gun out his pocket pointing it straight at them.

"Gun!" shouted Jane.

The man fired.

**To be continued! Haha! What do you think? Review and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Just want to take a moment and say thank you to everyone who follows this story, guess I'm on to something here, huh?**

**Here we go! Chapter 19! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles are anything related to it.**

The bullet hit the wall just short of where Kate and Jane stood.

Jane pushed Kate into the hollow frame of the door, using herself as a shield as another shot rang out.

"Drop the weapon!" Daniel emerged from the other end of the hall, gun drawn. "Federal agent! Drop your weapon!"

The man looked between Jane and Daniel before aiming the gun at Daniel.

Daniel fired a shot, hitting the man in the arm, causing him to fall back against the wall. "Jane, Kate get inside!"

"Open the door!" shouted Jane.

Kate frantically slid the key into the door, struggling to open it. The man raised his gun again to fire a bullet, ricocheting it off the door frame just as Kate opened the door pulling Jane inside as the sound of several gunshots filled the hallway.

Jane fell on top of Kate causing her to hit her head on the floor. "Ow!" exclaimed Kate, gripping her head in pain.

"Shit! Are you okay?" asked Jane.

"I'm fine," said Kate despite the ringing filling her ears.

Daniel emerged in the door, his gun still aimed down the hall. "You two okay?"

"We're fine, that goodness you showed up!" said Jane, helping Kate up.

"You dropped your phone in the car I came back up to give it to you. Just in time too, another second and…" Blood squirted from Daniel's shoulder as a bullet passed through him. Gripping his shoulder in pain he stumbled into the room just as another bullet hit the hotel door. "I'm hit!"

The sound of gunshots echoed from down the hall as bullets riddled the doorframe.

Kate kicked the door shut.

"We have to get out of here!" exclaimed Jane, now in a full out panic as the sound of running feet could be heard getting closer and closer.

"We have to hide," said Kate as she looked around the room. "Get in the bathroom!"

"What?"

"Just go!"

Kate and Jane helped Daniel up and into the bathroom as bullets began to riddle the hotel room door before the door come crashing to the ground. Jane and Maura fell to the ground with Daniel as another man walked in scanning the room. Turning towards the bathroom, he raised his gun, grinning while he pointed his gun straight at Kate.

"Maura!" shouted Jane.

Gun shots filled the air before the room fell silent.

Jane looked up to see the man slowly sliding down the door frame a trail of blood following him down to the ground. Next to her was Kate, breathing heavily as she gripped Daniel's gun in her hand, it aimed straight at the man. Jane couldn't believe her eyes. "Holy shit! Maura?"

Kate didn't say anything as her hand started to shake holding the gun.

Jane reached over and careful took the gun from Kate's hand.

Kate's focus was still on the man.

At NCIS, Gibbs phone began to ring. "Gibbs? What? Okay, I'm on my way!"

"Everything okay?" asked Ziva.

Gibbs grabbed his gun. "No, that was Jane, someone tried to shoot at her and Kate. Levi was hit. Let's go!" Gibbs headed for the elevator, his team right on his heels.

Local law enforcement had arrived to the scene and blocked off the hallway to Kate's room. Stepping off the elevator, Gibbs and his team were stopped by a D.C. cop.

"I'm sorry, sir, this is a crime scene. I can't allow you to pass," said the cop asserting his authority.

Gibbs flashed his badge. "Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS. Those are my people in there!"

"NCIS, of course! Right this way." The officer led Gibbs and his team down the hall.

"What happened?"

"Don't know? Guests heard gunfire. We arrived upstairs and found two dead gunmen. Your agent was injured. Through and through to the shoulder, we transported him to the hospital. I'm assuming you are going to want to handle this one?"

"You would assume right."

"The bodies are still where we found them."

"Where are the two women that were with him?"

"In the room next door, beginning looked at."

"Good. McGee call Ducky. Ziva, take a look at the scene. Tony…"

Before Gibbs could finish his sentence, Tony was running down the hall. Entering the room, he saw Kate and Jane sitting on the bed as paramedics looked them over.

"Kate!" exclaimed Tony.

"Tony," whispered Kate.

Tony rushed over to her. "Are you okay?"

Kate fell into his arms, hugging him tight.

A cop in the room approached Tony. "Excuse me, sir? You can't be in here!"

Tony flashed his badge. "Federal agent! She's with me!"

The cop backed off.

"What the hell happened? Kate, talk to me."

"Some crazy ass men started shooting at us, that's what happened!" interjected Jane.

Tony looked Kate over. "Are you alright? Were you hurt?"

"She hit her head pretty hard on the ground when I fell on her."

"She has a concussion, Rizzoli!"

"Wasn't like I was trying to hurt her, DiNozzo! The paramedic said she should probably lay down from awhile but she's fine other than that. I think it's the shock of shooting one of the guys that's bothering her."

Tony looked at Kate. "You shot one of them?"

"Double tap to the chest."

"Kate?"

Tears began to swell up in Kate's eyes as she nodded her head in affirmation.

Tony smiled at her. "Good girl, Kate."

"Good girl? I shot someone! I killed him!" sobbed Kate.

"Kate, you save you, Jane and Levi's lives. You did a good thing."

"I don't shoot people! I don't kill people!"

"You didn't kill anyone," said Jane. "You protected me and Levi. If you hadn't of shot him we would all be died right now! You did good!"

Kate didn't say anything.

"Let me see about getting you out of here, okay?"

Kate nodded as Tony got up to leave.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Thanks for asking!" shouted Jane.

Next door in Kate's room, Gibbs, Ziva and McGee took photos and measurements of the crime scene.

"Everything seems to be in order in here, Gibbs, aside from the two dead guys," said Ziva.

"First she was almost hit by a car and now this," said Gibbs.

"Someone must be after her."

"Who would go after Kate?" asked McGee.

"Did she have any enemies?"

"Just one," said Gibbs.

Tony walked in. "Hey Boss, how's it looking in here?"

"How does it look to you, Tony? There are two dead gunmen laying in Kate's room!" spat Gibbs. "How are Kate and Jane?"

"Rizzoli is fine. Kate's really shaken up though, she shot one of the guys."

"Good girl."

"Not in her eyes. If it's okay with you, I'm going to take her back to my place."

"I'm going to need a statement from her."

"I don't think she's in the state of mind to give one, Boss."

Gibbs nodded. "Alright, take Rizzoli with you."

Tony cringed. "Boss, do you think that's such a good idea given the situation with the two of them? Maybe I should take her back to your place and Kate and I will do back to my place..."

Gibbs gave Tony a cold gaze.

"Or all three of us can go back to my place. That's no problem."

At Tony's apartment, Tony gathered up extra blankets and pillows for Kate and Jane.

"Are you deceit?" asked Tony, hiding his face behind a stack of blankets as he walked in the doorway of his room.

"I'm dressed, Tony," said Kate.

Tony put down the blankets to see Kate dressed in her silk pajamas. "Darn, I was kind of hoping that you weren't!" smiled Tony.

Kate said nothing as she placed her things back in her bag.

"Jane still in the shower?"

"Yeah."

"She came back. Guess she's a real friend after all? And you two are talking!"

Kate was quiet.

"Um, I was going to order a pizza for us but I have no idea what toppings Jane wants."

"She likes pepperoni." She handed him a piece of paper. "Here"

"What's this?"

"My statement of what happened. If I'm going to be charged with murder, I want them to get it right."

"You didn't murder him, Kate. You killed him in self-defense."

"Killing is killing, Tony." Kate sat down on the bed.

"It was either you killed him or he killed you. Which would you rather have happen?"

"At this point, I'm not even sure."

"Not the answer I was going for."

"It's like it just came naturally to me, you know? I just picked up Levi's gun and started shooting. No hesitation, no nothing. I nearly had a panic attack working on my last live body and I just killed someone like it was nothing."

"Everyone gets shaken up their first time but the feeling fades."

"God, I hope so."

Tony ran his hands through his hair, pondering a way to get Kate out of her funk. "Hey, we never got to watch our movie earlier. What do you say I order the pizzas and we crash on the sofa and watch a good comedy? Nothing gets rid of the blues like a good laugh."

"No, I'm just going to lay in here by myself for a while."

Tony took Kate by the hand, pulling her up off the bed and into the living room. "No, you're not! You're going to come out here and watch a movie with me. Now get your butt over there and pick out one while I order us pizza. You still like mushroom on yours, right?"

Kate walked over to the bookcase full of DVDs. "You still remember that?"

"Spent enough nights working late, kind of hard to forget."

Kate stared at Tony for a moment before she started to scan the shelves for a movie.

Jane walked into the room, hair damp wearing a pair of pajama pants and a tank top.

"Rizzoli, you leave any water for the rest of the world?" commented Tony.

Jane rolled her eyes.

"You like archives on your pizza, right Rizzoli?"

"Hell no, jackass! Pepperoni! Extra pepperoni in fact!"

"Peperoni is very unhealthy," said Kate from in front of the bookcase.

"Then keep your mushrooms away from it!" Jane walked over to Kate. "You over the initial shock of killing your first criminal?"

"I'm coming to terms with it," sighed Kate.

"Hard to believe an ex Secret Service agent would get shaken up about something like this."

Kate looked at Jane out the corner of her eye.

"I guess it's been awhile for you, huh? Kind of like your first time all over again. Don't worry, everyone is like that their first time. You get used to it."

"That's what Tony said but I don't think I can ever get use to killing innocent people."

"They were shooting at us! They were hardly innocent!"

"That's true." Kate looked through the movies.

"So I've been thinking what do I call you now? I mean do I call you Maura or Kate?"

"Whatever you are most comfortable with."

"I was thinking about calling you Mate. You know a mixture of Kate and Maura. Or maybe Kaura?"

Kate laughed a little. "I would prefer you not turn my names into a portmanteau."

Jane smiled. "You still talk like Maura."

"What does that mean?"

"Pimento?"

"It's portmanteau."

"Whatever! I just thought that now that you're Kate that Maura was gone for good but I see she is still in there somewhere."

"I guess so."

"You think maybe Kate and I can have the same friendship as Maura and I had? I mean Maura and I were close and I would hate to lose that friendship if I don't have to."

"Jane, stop."

"What?"

"Stop doing that. Talking to me like I'm a stranger."

"You kind of are. I know Maura, I don't know Kate."

"It's me, Jane."

"Sorry, still wrapping my head around all of this," Jane turned her attention to Tony's movie collection. "DiNozzo has a pretty nice DVD collection here."

"He's a movie buff. He used to drive me crazy with his all his movie references and trivia."

"Looks to me like he needs a life!"

Kate laughed. "Tony thought watching a funny movie might help me get my mind off what happened earlier."

"That's a good idea, what did you pick?"

"This one looked interesting," She handed the DVD to Jane.

"Yes Man? Jim Carrey is always a good choice!"

"I've heard he is quite funny."

"You've never seen one of his movies?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Geez Maur! You need a life too!" said Jane as she walked over to sofa.

The sound of Jane calling her by her nickname she used from Maura made Kate smile.

Tony hung up his phone and walked over to join the two women who had situated themselves on his sofa in front of the television. "Pizza should be here in twenty minutes, ladies." Tony started up the movie before squeezing in on the sofa between Jane and Kate.

"What are you doing?" asked Jane.

"I'm about to watch the movie with you guys. Isn't this nice? It's like we're having a little sleepover! Any chance the two of you will want to have that pillow fight tonight?" Tony flashed his signature DiNozzo smile.

Kate slapped Tony in the back of the head.

Tony smiled. "Guess that's a no." Tony slide down to sit on the floor allowing Kate and Tony to stretch out on the sofa.

At NCIS, Gibbs was going through crime scene photos when Vance walked up to him. "Gibbs, we got a situation on our hands."

"You think? Someone tried to kill Kate again."

"Got in touch with Marrow and surprisingly enough, he remembers Twilight quite well."

"What did he say?"

"Selsi was a code name for plans that Ari had to a terrorist attack on American Naval bases here in the US. If Kate has Selsi, she has plans to what could be the next 9-11."

"Why would he give Kate plans to a terrorist attack?"

Leon raised his eyebrow.

"No, Kate was not in this."

"What other reason would he have to give Kate those plans?"

"I don't know but it wasn't because she was a part of them!"

"Well this is a serious situation. You're former agent is in possession of information that could potentially threaten national security, you need get those plans before the end up in the wrong hands."

Gibbs' desk phone began to ring. "Gibbs."

"You and your agent messed up my plans once, Agent Gibbs, I don't plan on letting it happen again," said a dark voice on the line. "Listen and listen closely, you have seventy-two hours to return what is mine before all hell breaks loose and you and Caitlin end up dead. Although, if my plan works out that will happen anyway."

"Who is this?"

"The clock is ticking, Agent Gibbs!"

"Ari? Is this you, you bastard?"

Dial tone.

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	20. Chapter 20

**Due to my great amount of lateness with updating this story, you have the right to Gibbs' slap me upside the head for my actions. I'm really sorry about that but know that while I may have been slow with updating this, I love you guys way too much to forget about you and I completely plan to finish this story. **

**Here we go! Chapter 20! Enjoy :-)**

**Made you wait long enough going to skip the disclaimer and just get into it!**

Early the next morning, Gibbs sat at his desk staring at the photo on his computer screen. He knew the image quite well, it found refugee there for nearly a year the first time, and he wondered how long the sinister smirk would taunt him this time.

"Back for round two, you bastard?" gritted Gibbs as the picture of Ari Haswari staring back at him from the screen.

"I thought I told you to go home?" said Vance, approaching Gibbs' desk.

"He's back, Leon." He never looked away from the screen.

"Ari's dead, Gibbs! That phone call wasn't from him."

"It was him, I know it"

"You need to let me handle this, Gibbs."

"I'm not letting him get to her again. I failed to protect

Kate once, I will not fail her again!" It wasn't until the sound of the elevator opening that Gibbs finally broke his stare and now focused it on a very pissed off looking Constance approaching them.

"Who is that?"

"That depends on the type of mood she's in."

"I don't appreciate being hung up on, Agent Gibbs!" snapped the English woman.

"C.J., wasn't expecting you until later tonight."

"Well after our lovely conversation yesterday, I got on the first flight here. Now, where is Maura?"

"Not here."

"I just spent the last nine and a half hour on an airplane, don't get cheeky with me, Gibbs! I maybe retired but I still know how to shoot a gun! Now where is my daughter?"

"You're Maura's mother?" asked Vance.

Constance looked the man up and down. "Who are you?"

"NCIS Director Leon Vance and you are?"

"Leon, this is Constance Johnston formerly an agent of the C.I.A. She was involved in Twilight as well. She knows more about what happened to Kate," explained Gibbs.

"You have information on what happened to Agent Todd?" asked Vance.

"Possibly, but first I want to know where Maura is?" spat Constance at Gibbs.

"She's fine, she spent the night at one of my agent's apartment," said Gibbs.

"How the hell did you find her?"

"She came to us. She was working a case in Boston that had a connection to one of Gibbs' cold cases here. She came here to work the case as Maura but then DiNozzo gave her a concussion which caused her to remember she was Kate," said Vance.

"How did you need up with Kate, C.J.?" asked Gibbs.

"What makes you think that I had something to do with this?"

"One of the best undercover agents in the C.I.A., you had something to do with this."

Constance sighed. "You know I had every intention of leaving this life and everyone related to it behind when I retired."

"We were all looking forward to it," teased Gibbs.

"I decided to relocate to England and use my university education for what it was really intended for and picked up a teaching job. So you can understand my shock when in the middle of my class I received a call from Jenny, asking for my help. My first thought was to hang up on her but after I heard the trouble Caitlin was in I couldn't turn away. I mean I've been in some interesting undercover operations but to make a terrorist fall in love with you?"

"Twilight was a one of a kind operation," said Vance.

"Yes, well, Jenny booked me a flight and had me meet her and Caitlin in Paris, I will never forget the panic on Jenny's face when she got off that plane."

"What was wrong?" asked Gibbs.

"Apparently Kate had acquired some highly classified information during her operation that Jenny didn't want getting out. In an attempt to protect that information, she thought it would be a good idea to give her Propranolol."

"Propranolol?"

"It's a drug sometime used to help people forget recent traumatic events," said Vance.

Constance continued. "A doctor Jenny was not and instead of ridding Kate of memories of recent events, she wiped out her entire memory! The girl had no idea who she was!"

"Kate lost her memory because she was overdosed on the drug?" asked Vance.

"Yes, add that to the severe dehydration she was battling from beginning sedated for nearly a week while Jenny tried to figure out what to do, I'm surprised the poor girl didn't end up worse off! We took her to the hospital and the doctor said there was a chance she could regain her memory with time and help through visual association but given the circumstance, Jenny felt it was best to leave it alone. Jenny had picked out the name Maura Isles for her. She said the name Maura was fitting for given that it means great. When she woke up, I started calling her Maura."

"Why tell her you were her mother?" asked Gibbs.

"Because having a woman come out of a weeklong sedation to find out she has a handler, is a bit harsh don't you think? She was alone, Gibbs. Scared. I felt bad for her. Caitlin was completely alone and not by her own will, I figured what more harm would it cause. By being her mother I was able to keep an eye on her and give her something of a normal life at the same time."

"That was noble of you Agent Johnston," said Vance.

"Please Constance or C.J., my agent days are long behind me."

"What about Edinburgh?" asked Gibbs.

"Kate attended medical school there. For some reason, Jenny wanted her to attend school there, managed to get her a scholarship and everything."

"This information that Jenny was trying to protect, did she ever tell you what it was?" asked Vance.

"No, she never said anything about it."

Gibbs and Vance shared a look.

"What's the matter?"

"The information that Kate had that Jenny was worried about getting out was called Selsi, they're plans to a terrorist attack," said Gibbs.

"Why would Caitlin have plans to a terrorist attack?"

"The terrorist gave them to her, and now he wants them back."

"Wants them back? Jenny said that he was dead."

"The dead are having a hard time staying dead around here lately. He's already made two attempted on her life and if I don't get that information back to him in the next…" Gibbs looked at his watched. "Sixty-two hours, he's going to kill her and me."

"You I understand. I've been wanting to kill you since the day I met you! But why Caitlin?"

Gibbs cut his eyes at Constance. "You haven't changed one bit have you, C.J.?"

"Wish I could say the same about you. My have you gotten old! I see you are still using that same barber though. It's unfortunate, really Gibbs, what is it going to take for you to get a decent haircut?"

"Can we focus?" asked Vance.

"What are you planning to do?"

Gibbs shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know but what I do know is that I'm not letting Kate fall prey to Ari again."

"I would hope not. Have you told Caitlin of any of this?"

"She's been through so much the last two days, I don't want to overwhelm her."

"I think she should be aware that someone is trying to kill her."

"I have my best agent with her at all times, he won't let anything happen to her."

"And who is that?"

_Kate sat at a panic table outside a barn with Ari. It was afternoon, a gentle breeze rustled the trees over the table._

"_We cannot do this anymore, Caitlin. I have said too much. It has become too dangerous," said the Ari, in his memorizing accent._

"_No one knows about us, it isn't necessary."_

"_But they do! And I fear that they will come after me…after you. You must do as I say! It is the only option."_

"_I can take care of myself!"_

"_Not in this matter! You must do this!"_

"_No! Forget it!"_

_Ari sighed. "Fine, you leave me no choice." The man pulls a tiny box out of his pocket. "Seeing as this is the last time I will see you for some time, I want you to take this. Keep it safe. When we reunite, I want it back."_

"_What is it?"_

"_It's a gift. Something to remember me by."_

_Kate opened the box to find a small flawless diamond glistening on a tiny stand in the middle. Kate raised an eyebrow as she looked at Ari. "It's a diamond."_

"_Only .02 carats."_

"_It's a diamond. Why are you giving me a diamond?"_

"_It's one of my most prized possessions. Keep it safe for me while I am gone."_

"_What's so special about it?"_

_Ari smiled. "Let's just say it holds the key to my legacy and perhaps," Ari took Kate's hand into his gently placing a kiss on the back it. "The beginning to ours. I figure setting four more of those around a one carat one would make a suitable betrothment ring for a woman such as yourself."_

"_You aren't asking me what I think you are asking me are you?"_

"_What if I was?"_

"_You're not exactly the marrying type," replied Kate, playfully._

_Ari laughed. "Oh and someone like DiNozzo is?"_

_Kate looked at Ari._

"_Keep this safe for me but do not let that thought stray too far from mind."_

_A light flashed._

Kate jumped out of her sleep only to feel someone holding onto her.

"It's okay, Kate. Go back to sleep."

Kate looked over her shoulder to find Tony fast asleep on the sofa behind her. "Tony? What the hell are you doing up here? I thought you slept on the floor last night?"

Tony wiped the sleep from his eyes. "Rizzoli and me switched spots. Apparently my sofa is uncomfortable especially when you are talking and kicking in your sleep. She thought sleeping next to me would help you sleep better. Seemed to calm you down for a while."

Kate sat up looking down on the floor where Jane slept soundly amongst various blankets and pillows Tony had used to make a paddy on the floor. "Sorry, it's kind of hard to sleep when you dream about a terrorist."

"Another Ari dream?"

"Yeah."

"You want to talk about it?"

Kate shook her head. "Not really."

Tony placed his hand on Kate's shoulder, smiling at her. "Don't worry about it. You are safe with me."

Kate smiled back at Tony, noticing that he was without a shirt. "Tony, where is your shirt?"

"I got hot last night laying on the floor so I took it off!"

"Put it back on! Seriously, you are way too comfortable around me!"

"Sorry! Geez, for someone who can only sleep laying next to a man, you sure are modest!" Tony hopped off the sofa making his way to his bedroom.

Watching him walk away, Kate couldn't help but notice how toned Tony's physique was as he wore only a pair of pajama pants.

"I'm going to hop in the shower, you okay?"

Kate didn't say anything as she unconsciously continued to ogle over Tony.

"Kate?"

Kate snapped out of her daze. "Yeah?"

"I'm going to take a shower, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure. I'm fine."

Tony looked at Kate funny before heading for the bathroom.

Kate heard the sound of giggles coming from the floor. She looked over to see Jane looking at her through half sleep eyes. "What are you laughing at?"

"You," said Jane, stretching out her long limbs.

"And may I ask what for?"

"You were checking DiNozzo out!"

"I was not!"

"Yes, you were!"

"No, I wasn't!"

"You were eyeing him like a schoolgirl eyeing her crush. You sure there is nothing going on between you two I should know about?"

"No!"

"Was there something between the two of you? You know back when you were Kate?"

"No, I told you Tony and I were and are just friends."

"Did you want there to be something between the two of you? Because the way you were looking at him I thought you were going to jump him!"

Kate looked at Jane. "Shut up! I was not checking him out, I was simply admiring the male physique. It just happened to be Tony's physique."

Jane laughed. "Maura and Tony sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N…" Kate's pillow hitting her in the face prohibited Jane from finishing her song.

The elevator to the Squad Room dinged and Tony, Kate and Jane stepped off. Jane paused, grabbing Kate by the arm as she noticed Constance sitting with Gibbs and Vance now joined by Ziva and McGee.

"Maura, is that Constance?" asked Jane, surprised to see the woman.

"Yes it is," replied Kate. "She's here early."

"What is she doing here?"

"Gibbs called her yesterday."

"Why would Gibbs call your mom?"

"Apparently, they are old friends."

"Old friends?"

"Constance Isles is not really my mother. Here name is Constance Johnston, she's a former C.I.A. agent who was acting as my handler."

"Your handler?"

"Someone assigned to protect me and to keep up my cover."

"Well isn't that nice? My best friend used to be in the Secret Service and her "mother" was in the C.I.A.! What is your dad? F.B.I.?"

"Stop it, Jane."

The trio approached the others. Though she now knew otherwise, Kate couldn't help but feel the need to impress around Constance as she straightened out her dress as she approached the woman.

"Morning all!" smiled Tony. He walked up to Constance. "You must be Constance. Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, nice to meet you!"

"DiNozzo?" said Constance looking Tony over. "You're the one that started all this mess?"

"What?"

"You gave Maura the concussion!"

Tony threw his hands in the air. "Completely by accident! I was saving her life!"

"But instead you only turned it upside down, forcing me to have to fly across an ocean overnight! I should put my foot up your ass for the trouble you have caused me!"

"Heel, C.J." commanded Gibbs, jokingly.

"Okay, not seeing the resemblance between you and Maura at all!" said Tony, in shook of the older woman's demeanor.

"Me either!" added Jane.

Constance looked at Jane. "I must say I'm surprised to see you here, Jane."

"Why wouldn't I be here?" replied Jane.

"People don't usually take this kid of information about a person well. I thought you would turn away finding out all of this."

"She did. Unfortunately she decided to turn back around," said Tony.

"While all this is shocking, to say the least, Maura's my best friend. She needs me so I'm here."

"A protector. I always said Maura was lucky to have someone like you in her life, I was right. It's nice to see that Caitlin gets to share in that as well." Constance looked over at Kate standing nervously next to Tony. "Caitlin."

"Mother. Or should I call you Constance?" asked Kate, nervously.

"How are you?"

"I could be better."

"I'm sure. I hope that you can forgive me for what has happened. I only did what I thought was right. I suppose you have questions."

"That I do."

"Going to have to save the Q&A session for later ladies, we got more pressing things to tend to."

"What's going on, Boss?" asked Tony.

Gibbs looked at Constance and Vance before taking a deep breath. "Ari Haswari is back."

"What?" questioned Ziva, the sound of her half-brother's name sending chills up her spine.

"Gibbs thinks it is Ari, we don't know for sure," corrected Vance.

"If Gibbs thinks it, I must be true," said McGee.

"Ari is dead, Gibbs!" spat Ziva. "I escorted his body back to Tel Aviv. My father and I buried him, there is no way."

"We buried Kate eight years ago too. The dead are having a hard time staying buried around here lately," said Tony.

"What reason would he have to fake his own death?"

"Ari gave Kate plans to a terrorist attack he was planning. He's back for his plans and I'm guessing to finish what he started. If he doesn't get them back in the next two days, he plans to kill Kate and me," explained Gibbs.

"What?" exclaimed Kate. Ari never gave me any plans to a terrorist attack. I tried but he wouldn't give me any details."

"Jenny's report said the he gave them to you."

Gibbs looked at Ziva. "Ziva."

"I had nothing to do with this, Gibbs. As far as I know, Ari is dead!" said Ziva.

"I know, Ziva. You knew Ari better than any of us did. What method might Ari use to share this type of information?"

Ziva thought for a moment. "I don't know."

"Think Ziva," said Tony.

"Did he ever give you any jewelry? A necklace? Bracelet? A ring?"

"A ring? Seriously, Ziva? They weren't planning on getting married!"

Kate was quiet, thinking back on her dream from the night before.

"I'm asking because perhaps he gave her a diamond of sort. During covert operations in Mossad, we would transfer information in the form of small diamonds, that were actually microchips. Perhaps Ari did the same when he gave Kate Selsi."

"He did give me a diamond," said Kate.

"What?" questioned Tony.

"He asked me to keep it for him. Keep it safe until I could get it back to him."

"Where is the diamond now?" asked Gibbs.

Kate shrugged her shoulder. "He gave it to me a few days before all this happened. Last I saw time I saw it, it was in my desk."

"You left a diamond just sitting in your desk?" asked Jane.

"It was in a small box. Like a jewelry box."

"There wasn't a jewelry box in your things when they cleaned out your desk," said McGee. "I was here the morning, Jenny did it. I don't remember seeing on."

"You think Jenny took it?" asked Tony.

"No, Caitlin still has it. When Jenny brought Caitlin to me, she gave me a jewelry box and asked that I make sure she kept it with her. I asked her what was but she asked me not to open it, just make sure Caitlin kept it safe. That must be what she was hiding. Where is that box?"

"Who knows? It's either in my house in Boston or my apartment in New York. I don't remember which." replied Kate.

"You have an apartment in New York?" asked Jane.

"It's something of a getaway home. I love New York!"

"Gear up!" shouted Gibbs.

"Where are we going, Boss?" asked Tony.

"You and Ziva are going with Jane and Kate to Boston. McGee, C.J. and I are going to New York."

"Who said I was helping?" asked C.J.

"I did!"

"Gibbs you can't take your entire team. You have an investigation here to conduct. Remember you do have two dead bodies down in autosy," said Vance.

"Two bodies that are there because they tried to kill Kate. I'm investigating an attempted murder against Kate, I'm trying to avoid having to conduct her murder investigation. I have two days to find this diamond and with two cities to cover, I need all the man power I can get! Williams!"

Skylar scurried around the corner. "Sir?"

"Pack your bags, you're going on assignment to Boston."

"Seriously?" Skylar's face lit up with excitement but the look she got from Gibbs quickly took that away.

Leon watched as team Gibbs darted in every direction, getting ready for their trip.

"Why don't you make yourself, Leon and pull some strings to get me some priority flights to Boston and New York. We are on a tight schedule," said Gibbs before exiting the Squad Room.

**What do you think? Review and comment are welcomed (and given my lateness, some light scolding) and an update is coming soon :-) **


	21. Chapter 21

**I just have to say, I love my readers! You keep me focused, you just don't know! Thank you!**

**Here we go! Chapter 21! Enjoy :-)**

**If I owned NCIS or Rizzoli & Isle, I wouldn't be writing fanfictions, I'd be writing episodes!**

Vance was able to get Gibbs team on priority flights to Boston and New York within the hour. Shuffling through the crowded aisles of the plane Tony, Kate, Jane, Ziva and Skylar searched for their seats.

"Man, this is exciting! Going on assignment!" smiled Skylar.

Jane turned around giving her a funny look. "They don't let you out the office at NCIS much do they?"

"Not really. I call window seat!" shouted Skylar hopping into the seat upon finding their row.

Tony placed his bag in the overhead compartment. "Remember we are on a tight schedule, we have just over forty-eight hours to find this thing. We need to thoroughly search Kate's house and be back by in D.C. by tonight."

"Need I remind you that you are going to my jurisdiction, DiNozzo. I call the shots!" said Jane.

"It's an NCIS investigation, Rizzoli."

"I don't care! Still my show!"

"As much as I would love to see Boston P.D.'s clown and pony show, I don't really have the time!"

Jane rolled her eyes getting ready to sit down next to Kate only for Tony to slip in the seat before her. "Seriously?"

"I'm sorry, we're you going to sit here?" asked Tony with a smirk on his face.

Jane groaned as she took at the seat next to Ziva.

Kate gave Tony a disappointing look.

"What?" questioned Tony.

"Jane wanted to sit there and you took her seat."

"You snooze you, you lose!"

"Tony?"

"I'll switch seats with her later but first I need to ask you something."

"What?"

Tony leaned in close to Kate. "He gave you a diamond?"

"Oh my goodness, Tony!"

"Why would Ari be giving you a diamond?"

"Apparently so he could have me hide his plans."

"Yeah, but a diamond though? Why not a teddy bear? Or a friendship bracelet? He gave you a diamond! A guy doesn't just give a woman a diamond to hold onto it for him, there's usually something else with it."

"It was nothing, Tony."

Tony gave Kate a look that almost mimicked Gibbs'.

"Stop looking at me like that!"

"Hives! I see them forming on your neck! That's one trait of Maura's I'm really starting to appreciate!"

Kate sighed. "Fine, you want to know the truth? Ari wanted me to hold onto the diamond so when he and I reunited he could propose with it."

"I knew it! You were in love with him!"

"I wasn't in love with him! He wanted to propose to me, I didn't ask him to marry me! It was part of his plan!"

"You knew about his plan?"

Kate took a deep breath. "Ari told me about his plan to fake my death awhile before he actually did. He said he was going to set it up so that it looked like he killed me but really it would be someone else. He wanted me to go into hiding until he finished up his work in the United States, and then the two of us would fly to Europe together and start a brand new life as brand new people. You want to know the reason Edinburgh sounds so familiar to Gibbs? It's because Ari went there. He got me a scholarship there because he wanted me to become a doctor in hopes that we would go into practice together once we relocated to Europe."

"And you went along with it?"

"No! I thought it was him talking! He was always talking about how he wished the two of us could be together without fear, I thought it was his way of trying to flatter me, I didn't think he was serious but I guess I was wrong!"

"Would you have gone along with it?"

"Gone along with what?"

"His plan. Run off to Europe, start new lives together, get married?"

"How could I? I lost my memory remember!"

"You lost your memory because Jenny OD'd you a propranolol because she panicked after Ari was killed. If Ari was still alive..."

"I would have killed him myself! It was an operation, Tony. I wasn't in love with Ari. I wanted the bastard died just as much as Gibbs but I had a job to do. So let it go!"

Tony nodded as he sat back in his seat. "I guess that's another reason to be happy that Ari's dead."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that had Ari not been killed you and he would be living in Europe somewhere, practicing medicine with a bunch of little Aries running around right now! I'm really glad that the bastard is dead now because it saved you from having to spend the rest of your life with man like him! You deserve way better than that, Kate!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, that's like a fate worse than death! You would rather you end up with a guy like me than with a guy like him! And you can't stand me!"

Kate adjusted herself in her seat. "You're not that bad, Tony."

Tony looked at Kate. "You say that now because you haven't been around me in eight years."

"I said that because it's true."

Silence came between the pair as Kate looked back at Tony. The two of them held each other's gaze as if they were reading each other's inner most thoughts. The captain coming over the speakers to tell everyone to prepare for takeoff pulled them away from gaze.

Tony cleared his throat. "You better buckle you seat belt."

"Yeah, I should," said Kate, searching for the strap.

"Here let me help you," Tony reached his hand towards Kate lap which she quickly slapped away.

"I can do it!"

Tony smiled.

Arriving in Boston, the group piled into Jane's car and headed for Maura's house.

"Okay, here's the game plan. Skylar, you take the living room, Jane and Ziva, the guest room, Kate and I will take the master bedroom. Anything that looks remotely like a diamond, bag it for Abby," said Tony stepping out the car.

"And exactly why do you get to search my bedroom?" asked Kate.

A big smile crossed Tony's face.

Jane rolled her eyes. "Maura and I will search her room, you pig!"

Kate led the way, searching her purse for her keys as she approached the front door. Opening the door, her breathe hitched in her throat as she looked at her living room, it was in shambles. Furniture was turned every which way and artifacts were broken all over the place.

"Someone's been in here," said Skylar.

"You think?" replied Jane, pulling out her phone. "I'm calling in back up!"

"Ziva, Williams, check out the rest of the house," said Tony as Ziva and Skylar dispersed.

"Who could have done this?" asked Kate making her way inside her house, stepping over broken pieces of glass and furniture.

"Careful," said Tony following behind her, his hands extended to make sure she didn't fall. A rustling coming from under a displaced pile of books caused him to grab ahold of her arm as he pulled out his gun.

Kate looked at the pile for a moment and gasped, pulling away from Tony as she rushed to towards the pile. "Oh my gosh!" Falling to the floor, she threw books aside revealing the shelled underbelly of her beloved tortoise, Bass, lying on his back. "Tony, help me!"

"What is it?"

"_It's_, my African Sulcata Tortoise, Bass," spat Kate, uncovering Bass. "He's on his back!"

"You have a pet turtle?"

"Tortoise! Help me!"

Tony put his gun away, going to her side to help her undercover the animal.

"Hold on, Bass!" said Kate, trying with all her might to roll him back on his feet.

"I got him," said Tony, standing over the large tortoise, gently holding both sides of his shell to roll him right side up, not realizing just how heavy he was.

Kate immediately started to examine tortoise for any injuries.

"Is he okay?"

Kate breathed a sigh of relief to see he was okay. "He's fine. I need to get him out of here, he could hurt himself on all this broken stuff."

"Okay, I got him," Tony steadied himself as he lifted the tortoise to carry him away from the debris.

Jane walked in. "Frost, Korsak and Frankie are on their way. Apparently there has been a string of break-ins the area."

"I don't think this was just an ordinary break in," said Ziva walking in carrying a cut out newspaper article. "This was laying on the kitchen counter."

Tony took the paper. The headline read: NCIS Agent Killed with a picture of Kate in the corner. ""It's been him all along!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Kate

Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out another newspaper article handing it to Kate. "The day you were nearly hit by that car, I found this on the room service tray in you room."

Kate examined the paper with the same headline written on it along with a photo.

"It's the newspaper article reporting when Ari killed Kate eight years ago. He's been working right in front of our face the whole time."

"This one is dated for today," said Kate.

"Why am I all of a sudden getting the feeling that us coming here was a set up?" asked Jane.

A loud yell came from the back of the house as Tony, Ziva and Jane, who had went back into full blown cop mood upon returning to Boston, pulled their guns.

"Stay here!" ordered Tony to Kate as he, Jane and Ziva ran towards Maura's bedroom where they found Skylar laying on the ground with blood dripping from a handle in her shoulder. Tony removed his jacket, going to Skylar's side to apply pressure to her wound.

"Someone was in the closet! He stabbed me and then jumped out the window,' groaned Skylar.

A loud crash filled the room. Jane and Ziva rushed out the room and out the front do to see Kate being dragged down the walkway by a masked man. A hand placed over her mouth to muffle her screams.

"Maura!" shouted Jane.

The man shoved Maura into the van and it took off down the street.

"Jane, give me your keys!" shouted Ziva.

Jane tossed Ziva her keys and the two women jumped into Jane's car with Ziva behind the wheel as they took off after the car.

In the back of the van, Kate fought to release herself from the man's clutches.

"Stop fighting you, bitch!" shouted the man, wrapping his arm around her neck, choking her. He reached into a bag sitting on the floor next to them, pulling out a needle preparing to shoot her with the substance inside.

The sight of the needle sent Kate into a panic. Shifting her weight, she elbowed the man hard in the chest, causing him to release her and dropping the needle in the process. The backhand to the face had her tasting blood, as she fell against the side door, clasping her hand over her mouth. The man reached for the needled but the heel to side stopped him, Kate kicking him with all her might.

His fist made connect with the side of her face, finally allowing him to pick up the needle kneeling over her with a grin on his face as she laid on the floor of van.

Barreling down the street, Ziva gripped the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were white as she chased after the van.

"There they are right there!" pointed out Jane, seeing the van ahead of them.

Ziva put her foot on the gas accelerating until they were right on top of the van.

"Ziva, you got to get in front of them!"

"I'm trying!" Ziva increased her speed pulling alongside the van to make her way in front of it and putting some distance between the two vehicles.

"What are you doing? You passed them!"

"Hold on!" Ziva turned the wheel turning the car sideways in the middle of the street forcing the van to slam the brakes just inches away from hitting them.

The driver's side door of the van flew open as a man jumped out and took off running down the street. Ziva jumped out the car running him down, tackling him in the middle of the street. Meanwhile, the van began to jostle as Jane heard a scream come from the back of the van. Jumping over the hood of her car, she ran to the back of the van flinging the door open to see Kate breathing heavily with blood coming from the side of her mouth, straddling the man as he laid knocked out on the floor with the needle sticking out his chest.

Jane breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, NCIS!"

**Exciting isn't it? What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	22. Chapter 22

**Here we go! Chapter 22! Enjoy :-)**

**I own the idea behind this story along with original character like Williams but I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it. Just had to put that out there**

Jane helped Kate out the van. Kate collapsed against the side of the van while Jane hopped in and checked the man's pulse. "Well, the good news is he isn't dead but you definitely knocked him out."

"He tried to drug me," said Kate.

"The needle coming out his chest kind of gave that way." Jane looked around the van noticing the pieces of Kate's diamond jewelry laying about. "Looks like we weren't the only one's looking for diamonds!"

"They must be working with Ari.

Jane hopped out the van. "You okay?"

Kate nodded, wiping the blood from her mouth.

Jane looked at the side of Kate's face. "Maura, your eye!" Jane touched the side of Kate's face causing her to wince. "Sorry! This asshole isn't playing around is he? He really wants you dead!"

Kate cut her eyes at Jane. "Seeing as how I was nearly kidnapped a few minutes ago, I would say so, Jane!"

The sound of police sirens approached them. Jane looked up to see Frankie running towards them.

"Jane!" shouted Frankie. "Jane, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Frankie caught sight Maura's face. "Maura? Jane, what happened to her face?"

"The intruders were still in the house. One of them stabbed Williams and the other grabbed Maura. Ziva and I chased them down but luckily Maura fought back."

"Geez, Maura your face looks awful!" Frankie touched the side of Kate's face which was now starting swell.

Pain and reflex caused Kate to punch him hard in the arm. "Dammit, Frankie!"

Frank grabbed his arm in shock of her reaction. "What's got into you?"

"I was nearly abducted and punched in the face, sorry if I'm not in the best of moods!"

"Sorry! Jane, you said you caught the guys that did this?"

"Yeah, one is taking a nap in the back of the van and the other…" The sound of man grunting interrupted Jane's words as Ziva slammed the driver against the hook of the van. "…Is right there."

"What should I do with him?" asked Ziva, restraining the man.

"Put him in the squad car!"

Frankie smiled at the sight of the Israeli woman, man handling the suspect as she put him in his car. He looked at his sister. "Who's she?"

"Special Agent Ziva David, she's with NCIS."

"What's NCIS?"

"Now is not the time for questions, Frankie!"

"Sorry," Frankie looked over his shoulder at Ziva again.

"Are you serious?" asked Kate.

"What?"

"Instead of focusing on handling this situation, your brain is more focused on releasing norepinephrine and attracting Ziva!"

Frankie looked at Maura funny. "What?"

Kate rolled her eyes.

"Look Frankie, take those two down to the station and hold them until I get there," said Jane.

"Okay," Frankie got into the van and cuffed the other suspect, trying his best to balance his semi-conscious weight as he led him back to his squad car.

"Hey!" said Jane, squaring up to Kate. "Need I remind you that he along with everyone in Boston still thinks that you are Maura? You are going to have to suppress Kate until we get back to DC!"

"His mind was completely on Ziva!" said Kate.

"He's a guy! She's a hot girl! What do you expect? But Maura doesn't usually bite his head off about it!"

"Should I apologize?"

"Do it later, we **n**eed to get back to your place."

Jane pulled up in front of Kate's house and was immediately met by her partner Detective Frost as she stepped out the car.

"Jane, you want to explain what NCIS is doing here?" asked Frost.

Jane ran her fingers through her curly mane. "We got a situation on our hands, Frost. NCIS needs to handle this one."

"Why the hell does NCIS need to handle a break-in Boston?"

"It's a long story."

Frost looked at Kate. "Geez, Doc! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Detective Frost," said Kate.

"Jane, what the hell happened here? We had to call an ambulance cause one of the Feds got stabbed and now Maura!"

"How is Agent Williams?"

"They took her down to Boston General. Korsak followed to get her statement seeing as how Agent DiNozzo isn't letting us anywhere near the crime scene."

Jane sighed. "Come on."

Jane, Ziva, Kate and Frost made their way toward the house just as Tony was walking out the door.

Tony's sight immediately went to Kate and her now bruised face. "Rizzoli, what the hell happened?" spat Tony.

"What do you mean what the hell happened? The perps tried to kidnap her! If it wasn't for Ziva's fast and furious driving they would have got away!" snapped Jane.

Tony pulled Kate's hair back from her face revealing the fist mark the next to her eye. "Oh man, that looks bad!"

"Thanks, you look great too!" replied Kate, wincing as Tony ran his thumb over her eye.

"I hope this means you fought back?"

"He was trying to drug me. I ended up stabbing him with the needle."

Tony smiled. "That's my girl!"

"What are the chances NCIS will reissue me my gun? I'm getting the feeling I may need it!"

Tony laughed. "No need. That's the last time I let you out my sight!"

Frost watched the interaction. "Something going on that I should know about?"

Tony moved his hand away from Kate's face, cutting his eyes at Frost. "I thought I told you this is an NCIS crime scene."

"He's my partner, DiNozzo. He's okay," said Jane.

Tony looked Frost up and down. "The house has been raided. All of Maura's jewelry is missing."

"I found them in the back of the van," said Jane.

"Ari must have sent those two men to look for Selsi," said Ziva.

"What's Selsi?" asked Frost.

Tony looked at Kate. "Where are they two guys now?"

"Frankie took them down to the precinct," said Jane.

"Let's go, I got some questions for those two. Ziva, you mind staying here and making sure these Boston P.D. guys don't mess up anything?"

"Of course," said Ziva.

"Someone want to explain to me what is going on?" asked Frost.

"Its need to know," said Tony.

"So what I don't need to know?"

"No!"

"Can I shoot him?" asked Frost.

"If I haven't, either can you," said Jane walking out the room.

Jane, Tony, Kate, and Frost walked in the Boston Police Department and headed straight for the elevators. In her usual Jane fashion, Jane repeated pressed the up bottom as to make the elevator arrive faster.

"You know that doesn't make the elevator move faster," said Frost.

"Really? Always seems to work for me!" retorted Jane as she continued to press the button.

"Jane, I would really like to know what is going on and why NCIS is involved."

"Frost, it's a long story."

"I got time!"

"I don't! I just need you to have me and Maura's back alright?"

"Always."

"No matter what?"

"No matter what."

"Good."

"Jane!"

The shrill of the voice coming for the Division Café caused Jane to cringe. "Oh no!"

"Jane! Oh my gosh! What happened? Frankie said there was a break in at Maura's house!"

Jane turned around to see her mother, Angela, racing out the café towards her.

"Who is that?" asked Tony.

"My mother," whined Jane.

Angela wrapped Jane into a hug which she fought to get out of. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Ma! Let go!"

Angela released her daughter. "You didn't even tell me that you were coming home! I thought you were still in DC taking care of Maura!"

"It was an emergency trip back."

"Emergency?" Angela looked at Kate, her mouth dropping open at the black eye that she was sporting. "Oh! What happened to your face! Jane?"

"What makes you think that I did that?" asked Jane.

"You were supposed to go to DC to take care of her! How did she get a black eye?" Angela held on to Kate's face, turning it this way and that looking for any other injuries.

"I didn't have anything to do with that, Ma!"

"Its okay, Jane! You weren't aware of what you were doing! I know this was completely accidental," said Kate.

Jane eyes got big. "What?"

"Jane was suffering from parasomnia and began fighting in her sleep and she accidently hit me."

"Jane!" exclaimed Angela. "You punched Maura in her sleep?"

"I…" Jane was dumbfounded.

"Its fine, Angela. I know next time to take the floor," smiled Kate gaining an evil look from Jane.

"Geez, Jane, what were you dreaming about to hit her that hard?" asked Angela.

"You," retorted Jane.

Angela cut her eyes at her daughter. "You need to get some ice on that sweetheart. Come on."

"I'm alright, Angela. I'll put some ice on it later."

The elevator dinged.

"Ma, go back to work. Maura is fine."

"Okay," replied Angela as the four got on the elevator watching the doors close.

"What the hell was that?" snapped Jane.

"I panicked!" replied Kate. "Couldn't exactly tell your mother I got a black eye because I fought off a kidnapper! She would have a heart attack!"

"So instead you tell her that I beat the shit out of you in my sleep? Really?"

"Rule number seven," smiled Kate, shyly

"What the hell is rule number seven?"

Tony laughed.

Arriving in interrogation, Kate and Frost stepped into the observation room while Tony and Jane talked to the suspect. The suspect couldn't have been older than thirty and much to both of Jane and Tony's surprise, he wasn't of middle-eastern decent. Instead handcuffed at the table was nervous looking Caucasian man.

"It's the driver," whispered Jane to Tony.

"I want to talk to a lawyer!" said the man, trying his best to wiggle out the cuffs.

"Good luck finding a lawyer who is willing to defend a terrorist!" spat Tony.

"Terrorist? I'm no terrorist!"

"Really not in the mood for games right now so let's just get to the point. What were you doing at Dr. Maura Isles' house?" asked Jane.

"I want to talk to a lawyer!"

"You're going to talk to us!"

"I want to make a deal!"

"That all depends on what you tell us so start talking!" said Tony. "Who are you working with?"

"I don't know his name."

"Deal just went out the window," said Jane.

"No! Look, I needed the money, okay? My friend told me about some guy offering one hundred thousand to break into the house, find some diamonds and kidnap some bitch."

"And you agreed to that?" asked Tony.

"It was easy money!"

"You were carrying a weapon. You planned to do more than just kidnap some woman," said Jane.

"I was supposed to use it to post the note on the door! It was supposed to be some type of message but when the cop opened the closet and found me I panicked and stabbed her with it to get away! I wasn't planning on hurting anyone, I swear!"

"And what message was that?"

Jane's phone began to ring. She searched through her pocket to answer the device. "Rizzoli?"

"Jane, we got a problem," said Korsak on the other line.

"What's the matter, Korsak? How is Williams?"

"Williams is fine. Doctors stitched her up, she'll make a full recovery."

"What's the problem, Korsak?"

"Jane, did you see what she was stabbed with?"

"No."

"It was an ice pick, Jane. You know what that means Jane."

"Yeah," Jane looked at the suspect sitting across from her. "Korsak, let me call you back," Jane hung up the phone, focusing her attention on the suspect. "The weapon you stabbed the agent with was an ice pick."

"What the heck does an ice pick in a door mean?" asked Tony.

Jane looked up at Tony. "It means that this just become a joint investigation."

"Why?" asked Tony.

"Because Ari is working with Patty Doyle."

**So many twists and turns I can't even keep up! LOL! Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	23. Chapter 23

**Here we go! Chapter 23! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it. All original characters are my own.**

"Who is Paddy Doyle?" asked Tony, closing the door behind him as he followed Jane out of interrogation.

"Paddy Doyle is an Irish crime boss and he also happens to be Maura's father. At least we thought he was Maura's father," sighed Jane.

"Maura's father?"

"He showed up a few years ago after Maura's half-brother ended up on her table."

"Does Maura have contact with him?"

"Every now and then but this isn't like him. Paddy doesn't hurt women! Every encounter he has ever had with her has been to protect her, not hurt her!"

"We need to talk to Doyle."

"He's been in prison for the last year awaiting trial."

"Can you see about getting a private meeting with him?"

"I can try but the warden can be a real dick."

Tony, Kate and Frost sat in the Squad Room waiting patiently as Jane negotiated a meeting with Paddy Doyle on the phone.

Jane hung up the phone. "Well, natural Warden Price is being a dick as expected. He says we can't see Doyle tonight because all prisoners have been locked in for the night but we can see him first thing tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? We don't have that kind of time," said Tony.

"I tried."

Tony looked at Kate. "Guess we are spending the night in Boston."

"You guys can stay at my place if you want? It's a tight fit but we can make it work."

"Is that a good idea?" asked Kate. "What if Ari comes after me again?"

"Then he will have to go through me."

"And me," said Tony. "I missed up once today, Kate. It won't happen again."

Frost looked at Tony funny. "Someone want to explain to me what's going on? Who is Ari?"

"That's need to know information, Detective Frost."

"I'm Jane's partner, you can trust me!"

"I don't care if you are her priest, you still don't need to know!"

"Frost, can you call the patrol units and see if I can get a few of them to watch my building tonight?" asked Jane.

"Sure," replied Frost giving Tony a cold gaze as he picked up his phone.

"I'll call Gibbs and let him know what's going on," said Tony stepping outside the Squad Room to phone Gibbs.

That night, Jane, Tony, Kate all gathered at Jane's apartment. Frankie picked up Ziva from the crime scene and brought her over to Jane's as well then offered to stay to help the units patrol the area later that night. Jane, Ziva, Frankie and Tony, reclined in the living room watching television while Angela, who was also staying at Jane's apartment due to Kate's house being broken into, busied herself in the kitchen making a meal for their guests.

"Dinner's ready! Come get it while it's nice and hot!" shouted Angela.

The four made their way into the kitchen.

"This dinner looks delicious, Angela," said Ziva, admiring the meal of lasagna, salad and garlic bread Angela had prepared.

"Dig in, Ziva, there's plenty! Where's Maura? She loves my lasagna."

"In my room. She said her head was hurting so she wanted to lay down for a while," said Jane, filling her plate.

"She's going to miss dinner. Jane, make her a plate and see if she wants to eat."

"I got it," said Tony, stepping out of the kitchen, with two plates in hand.

"That Tony is such a nice man. Don't you think, Jane?"

"He's okay," retorted Jane, mouth full of lasagna.

"Tony DiNozzo. Italian. Has a good job. He's handsome. No ring on his finger," Angela wiggled her ring finger.

"What's your point, Ma?"

"You're single, he's single! You two would make a cute couple!"

"Ew, no! I want nothing to do with DiNozzo!"

"You need a husband, Jane!"

"You need a life, Ma!"

"I want grandchildren!"

"You have two other kids! Nag them for grandkids!" Jane looked over in her living room, where Ziva and Frankie sat together on the couch, talking and laughing. "Frankie keeps it up with Ziva, you might get lucky! Besides, I think Tony has his eyes elsewhere."

"And where would that be?"

Tony stood in the door of Jane's room, watching Kate as she sat on the floor at the foot of Jane's bed, dressed in a pair of Jane's B.P.D. sweats and t-shirt, with Bass. "Hey," smiled Tony.

"Hey," replied Kate, her focus on Bass.

"I thought you were sleep?"

"I just laid down for a bit."

Tony held up the two plates. "Brought you some of Angela's lasagna. Looks really good!"

"Just sit it on the bed, I'll eat it later."

Toy sat the plates on the bed before sitting down next to Kate. "You okay?"

Kate sighed. "I'm worried about Bass, he won't eat." Kate waved a piece of lettuce in front of the tortoise but he didn't bite.

"What made you get a pet tortoise?"

"Got tired of coming home to an empty house after long rotations, thought it would nice to have someone to come home too. I saw in the tank at the pet store and feel in love with him."

"You know boyfriends are good cure for loneliness too."

"Bass was easier to find." Kate gave Tony a dimpled smile.

Tony chuckled "Here," Tony took the lettuce from Kate. "Let me try. I have a way with animals!"

"He doesn't like to eat from strangers."

"I'm no stranger besides I should probably get to know your little one," smiled Tony as he laid on the ground in making himself eye level with the tortoise. "Hey there, little guy! Well actually you are more of a big guy. You hungry? Your Mommy has a nice piece of lettuce here for you if you want it." Tony waved the lettuce in front of Bass.

The tortoise retracted into his shell.

"Told you he doesn't like strangers."

"He just has to get to know me. Know I won't hurt him," Tony placed the lettuce on the floor. "That's okay, Bass. You can eat it when you get ready." Tony sat up and handed Kate her plate. "Meanwhile, Mommy should eat something."

"Thanks."

Tony watched as Kate took a bite of food. "How is your eye?"

"How does it look to you?"

"Still pretty bad."

"That's how it feels."

Tony took his plate off the bed and began to eat with Kate.

"Any word on Williams?"

"They are keeping her overnight for observation, make sure she doesn't get any infections from the ice pick. She's going to meet us at the prison in the morning."

Kate nodded.

"Ziva offered to patrol the area with Frankie's unit tonight so you and Bass can sleep out in the living room with me instead of sharing the bed with Jane and Angela. That way I can keep my eye on you."

"Keep an eye on me for what?"

"You know, in case you have another dream or something and need to cuddle!"

"We don't cuddle! You just sleep next to me!"

"Minor technicality!"

Kate gave Tony a funny look before focusing back on her plate.

Tony watched Kate eat for a moment, taking in every bit of her face. Reaching out, he pulled Kate's hair behind her ears before picking up the bag of ice.

"What are you doing?"

"Putting ice on your face. I can't stand to look at you like this," Tony gently placed the bag of ice on the side of Kate's face.

"I'll do it later, Tony. Eat your dinner."

"I got it, Kate." Tony placing his plate in his lap, taking a forkful of lasagna. "See? Multi-tasking!"

Kate giggled as the sound of tiny crunches filled the air. Tony and Kate looked down to see Bass, pulling a piece of lettuce from Tony's salad off the plate in his lap, eating it happily.

"Well, look who decided to eat!" smiled Tony at the tortoise. "Guess I'm not such bad guy after all, huh Bass?"

"I've never seen him do that before! He never eats off of strangers!"

Bass took another piece of lettuce from Tony's plate.

"Guess I'm not a stranger," smiled Tony watching the tortoise eat.

Tony allowed for Bass to finish his salad and even went to get him a second serving. Kate watched in awe as Bass graciously took food from Tony as he feed him. Once he finished eating, Tony careful led Bass into living room where he, Kate and Bass all settled in for the night, Kate taking to couch and Tony sleeping on the floor right now to her. Bass right next to him.

The next morning, Tony, Kate, Jane and Ziva arrived at the prison to find Skylar standing outside the visitation room, her arm in a sling.

"How you feeling, Williams?" asked Jane.

"Like I've been stabbed with an ice pick," said Skylar, rubbing her shoulder. "Free of infection. Doctor said my wound should heal in a few weeks." She looked into the visitation room where Doyle was seated at a table accompanied by two guards. "That's the guy?"

"Yeah, that's Paddy. You all wait out here, I'll talk to him."

"I want to talk to him," interjected Kate. "I want to hear what he has to say."

"No! I'm not letting him anywhere near you."

"I'll be fine, Jane. Besides, he doesn't like cops, he won't talk to you. We are short on time and we need answers."

"You're not going in there by yourself!"

"I'll go with her. He knows Jane is a cop, he's never met me."

Kate led the way and Tony followed behind her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Doyle, seeing Kate approaching.

"You know why I'm here," said Kate, sitting down across from Doyle along with Tony.

"What happened to your face?"

"You tell me," said Kate, calmly. "Seeing as it was your men who did this."

"My men?"

"Yeah, you know, the two guys you sent to her house to kidnap her. You know for a man who doesn't believe in killing women or children, I find it funny that you would hire someone to kill your own daughter! Or maybe now it doesn't matter seeing that she's not really your daughter?" interjected Tony.

Doyle looked at Tony. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your guys already admitted that you hired them. My question is who hired you?"

Doyle looked at Kate. "He a cop or something?"

"No. Just a friend."

"A very good friend, who's looking for answers," added Tony.

Doyle raised his eyebrow.

"You are already looking at spending the rest of life in jail as a murderer. You want to add terrorist to that, that's your business. But I would rather not be added to your list of victims. Someone is trying to kill me and you know who, Paddy," said Kate.

"What makes you think I have anything to do with this?"

"The two guys were carrying an ice pick. Used it to stab a federal agent."

"So every person carrying an ice pick is working for me?"

"It is your thing."

Doyle sat back in his chair.

"Who are you working for Paddy?"

"No one."

"Then why were those two men at my house?"

"I'm being framed."

Tony scoffed. "Nice one!"

"It's the truth! I didn't do this!"

"Care to elaborate?"

Doyle rubbed his chin. "He said he had some business to take care of and that he needed to locate someone. He figured with my connection around the city, I was the best person for the job. It's not like I haven't done hired hits before so I figured what the hell. Told me to do what I wanted with you just make sure that I left this newspaper article with the body. It wasn't until he gave me the article with your photo that I had second thoughts. All I have in this life is my word, what I say I mean. I don't kill women or children. He was determined to get the job done so he went elsewhere with his business. Word on the street was that he got O'Rourke to do the job. Only problem was that O'Rourke choose to kill my son in order to get to you. I couldn't with all consciousness allow for an innocent woman such as you to be killed so I pretended that I was your father in order to gain you trust so I could protect you. I thought my killing O'Rourke was a clear enough message that you were to be left alone but some people just can't be reached. He's pissed at me because I messed up his plans."

"That's very noble of you, Paddy. Protecting a woman's life,"

"At all bad guys are all bad. Some of us actually have a heart, Tony."

Kate pulled up a picture of Ari on her phone. "This the man who tried to hired you?"

"Could be. I can't say for sure, we only met during the cover of night. He looks sort of like him."

"Did he tell you his name?"

"People like him don't like to leave names. It's not exactly good for the reputation if you know what I mean."

"No, I don't."

"Ask Rizzoli, she would know." Doyle's gaze went to the door where Skylar stood against the wall outside. "Who is she?"

"Agent Williams. She's the one that was stabbed with the ice pick," said Tony.

"She a cop?"

"She's a NCIS agent, yes," replied Kate.

Doyle sat silently, staring at Skylar for a moment. "You need to get out of Boston. If this asshole is still after you, you are danger," Doyle looked back at Skylar. "Maybe more danger than you think."

**What do you think? Reviews and comment and welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	24. Chapter 24

**Here we go! Chapter 24! Enjoy :-)**

**Still DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it.**

Returning back to B.P.D., Jane headed up the Squad Room where her partner Frost, sat working at his desk.

"Hey, you're back," said Frost, seeing his partner. "How did your meeting with Doyle go?"

Jane flopped down in her chair. "Not good." She ran hands over her eyes. "Can you to run a search on Skylar Williams? See if she has any connections to Boston, more specifically Paddy Doyle."

"You going to tell me what's going on or is this still a need to know situation?"

Jane looked at Frost.

"Come on, Jane, I'm not stupid! I know something big is going on."

"It's nothing, Frost."

"Seems like a lot of trouble being caused for nothing. So what is it?"

"Drop it, Frost."

"I can't drop it, Jane. You are my partner, if you are in some type of trouble I should know."

"I'm not in any trouble."

"Then why are you working with NCIS?"

"I just am, okay."

"What about Maura?"

"What about her?"

"Is she in some kind of trouble?"

Jane didn't say anything.

"Jane, talk to me!"

"There's nothing to talk about."

Frost leaned in towards Jane. "I did some research."

"Research?"

"The Ari Haswari guy you all keep talking about was a terrorist. Eight years ago, he killed an NCIS agent named Kate Todd. Can't help but notice the resemblance between her and Maura. Is that what this is about? Is Kate, Maura's twin or something? I know she doesn't know much about her biological family, is this some kind of recent find?"

"I wish," said Jane under her breath.

"Who is she, Jane?"

"It's not exactly easy to explain."

"Something is better than nothing! I know I'm your partner but I see Maura as a friend as well. If something is going on you can tell me. I'm here to help."

Jane thought for a moment. "Fine, I'll tell you. But I'm only telling you this because you are my partner and I believe that I can trust you."

"You can trust me, Jane."

"This has to stay between us! No one else can know! Not Korsack, not Frankie and especially not Ma!"

"You have my word."

Jane took a deep breath. "Kate is not Maura's twin, Kate is actually Maura."

Frost raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"

"Dr. Maura Isles is really NCIS Special Agent Caitlin Todd. Maura is a cover she was given eight years ago after an operation she was working went bad."

"Kate and Maura are the same person?"

"It's a long, complicated story. To make matters worse, the guy who is responsible for putting her undercover is back and he wants her dead!"

"The Ari guy?"

"Yeah."

"And you felt that I didn't need to know any of this?"

"I had to protect Maura, Frost. The only people that know about this are her old team at NCIS and me. You now. This Ari is on crazy motherfucker, I don't want you to get hurt or worst, killed, because you got involved in this."

"So what, you just want me to sit around and risk you or Maura getting killed?"

Jane was quiet.

"Her secret is safe with me, Jane. What can I do to help?"

"You can start by running that check on Williams."

"I'm on it."

Down in autopsy, Maura laid on one of the empty autopsy tables, a pillow resting under her head.

Tony burst through the double doors, carrying a plastic bag with plastic food containers and some drinks. "Lunchtime! Angela said Division Café is fresh out of quinoa wraps so you are going to have to settle on a club sandwich and fries…" He froze at the sight of Kate laying on the autopsy table. "What are you doing?"

"Looking for the oblivion of sleep," sighed Kate.

Tony gave her a funny look.

Kate looked at Tony. "I have a headache, I needed to lay down."

"You couldn't find anywhere else to lay down? I mean you have a nicely furnished office with a very comfortable looking couch!"

"It was available plus that couch cost my five thousand dollars, I'm not about to just kick my feet up on it!"

"I would prefer you kicked up your feet up on your overly priced couch than lay on a stainless steel table!" Tony placed the food down on a tray next to the table before grabbing Kate by hands helping her sit up.

Kate groaned. "What's the big whoop? I'm just laying here!"

"Seeing you laying on the table like that brings back memories I rather not relive. It took me weeks to get that image of you out of my mind."

"I'm not dead, Tony."

"I know but I still don't like you laying on this thing. There are lot of places I would love to see you laying but this isn't one of them."

"Really and where would that be?"

A slick smile crossed Tony's face.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Don't answer that!"

Tony hopped up on the table to sit next to Kate. "Why the sudden headache? You were fine this morning."

"I'm recovering from a concussion and I got punched in the eye yesterday, headaches are my thing now. Plus, I can't get what Paddy said out my mind."

"Kate, I told you not to put too much thought into that. He was probably just trying to scare you."

"Well, it worked!" Kate sighed, resting her head in her hands.

Tony put his arm around her, pulling her close to him.

Kate rested her head on his shoulder. "I've never been so paranoid in my life. I don't know who I can trust anymore. Seems like everyone in my life was just there to fulfill some part of the operation."

"There's no need to be paranoid, Kate. You're in good hands. Nothing is going to happen to you."

"You don't know that, Tony. You heard Paddy, danger maybe closer than we think!"

"I guess that means I will just have to keep you closer to me then?"

Kate gave Tony a funny.

"You know, as in me keeping an eye on you to make sure that Ari doesn't have a chance to get to you. Not like you have to be _close _to me like right next to me all the time, you know? Unless that's what you want, which I'm totally fine with! Whatever makes you feel better…" Tony paused not sure where to go with the conversation. He quickly reached into the bag pulling out a container of food, handing it to Kate. "Here, you need to eat something. You didn't eat much at breakfast this morning."

Kate sat up, taking the container from him. Kate watched as Tony nervously opened his container taking a bite of his sandwich. She smiled to herself.

Tony phone began to ring. "That must be Gibbs. He and Vance were working on getting us a flight back to DC. I'll be right back," Tony placed his food on the table, exiting the room.

Upstairs, Jane and Frost waited impatiently for the results of the search to come up.

"Anything yet?' asked Jane.

"Nope," replied Frost.

"What the hell is taking so long?" Jane's phone rang. Reaching into her pocket, she answered the device. "Rizzoli?"

"I hope you took my warning to heart and got Maura out of Boston?

"Paddy? How did you get this number?"

"I have my ways, Rizzoli. But that isn't important right now. Maura's life is in danger."

"You don't think I know that?"

"We're on the same side, Jane. I'm trying to save Maura just like you are. He's not going to stop until she's dead. And he'll do anything and kill anyone to ensure that happens. I'm trusting you to protect her."

"Kind of hard to do when I have no idea who it is I'm protecting her from! Your little meeting with Maura this morning wasn't very helpful!"

"I know which is why I called. I recognize her."

"Who?"

"That girl. I'm getting a bit rusty in my old age and I'm having a hard time keeping all my dealings in order but after a little thought, I recognized her. Anytime we would meet, she was never far from the action. I think she may have been his partner."

"She's a federal agent, Paddy."

"He would stick to his own kind."

"Paddy, you sure about this?"

"She knows him, Rizzoli. You don't believe me, check her record. This isn't the first time we've met. I suggest you get her before she gets Maura."

Frost's computer bleeped. "Got something, Jane."

"Paddy, I have to go."

"I got my people on the streets keeping watch, Rizzoli. Take care of my girl for me."

"I will, Paddy." Jane hung up the phone. "What you got, Frost?"

"You might want to see this."

Jane jumped out her seat to see what was on the screen. On the screen was a police squad photo and to the left was Williams smiling proud in her dark blue uniform. "What is this?"

"Squad 8619 of the Boston Police Training Academy. More specially Williams' Squad."

"Williams went to academy here?"

"Not just that, Jane she used to work with B.P.D."

"What? I've never seen her around her!"

"That's because she only worked here a little over a year. Remember a few years back, when Internal Affairs was investigating possible criminal activity in the narcotics unit."

"Yeah, four officers were let go pending further investigation."

"She was one of the four. They were accused of dealings with big time drug and crime leaders in the area one of which was…"

"Doyle."

Frost looked up at Jane.

"Shit! He wasn't lying, she is his partner! Come on, Frost we got to get downstairs!" Jane ran out the Squad Room followed by Frost.

Kate sat alone at the autopsy table finishing up her lunch. Her back was turned to the back entrance of autopsy where Skylar was making her way through the door.

Sensing a presence in the room, Kate turned around. "Skylar, I didn't hear you come in."

"My bad. I got a little lost coming back in the building. I saw an open door so I used it."

"The door to the loading dock is supposed to always be closed."

Skylar shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it wasn't."

Kate stood up as she noticed something off about Skylar's demeanor. "Are you okay, Agent Williams?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Skylar slowly began to walk towards Kate. "Why do you ask?"

"You just seem a little…I don't know. You don't seem like yourself. Perhaps you should sit down?"

"No, I'm good." Skylar looked around. "Where is everyone?"

"Tony had to step out to make a phone call. He should be right back."

Skylar nodded her head. "They should know by now not to leave you alone." She placed her good hand on her waist where her gun rested.

Kate froze.

"What's the matter?"

Kate looked at the gun. "Nothing."

"You worried about this?" Skylar laughed as she looked at the weapon. "It's useless to me at this point. That jackass stabbed me in my shooting arm. Although, if I really wanted to…" Skylar pulled out the gun. "I could still shoot." Skylar looked at the weapon in her hand. "You know with everything going on, bet you wish you had one of these right now? Protect you from Ari, but then again after the meeting you had with Doyle this morning, it might not be Doyle you need protecting from."

The double doors to autopsy swing open. "Don't you do it, Williams!" shouted Jane, gun pointed straight at Skylar.

Skylar smiled. "Rizzoli!"

Jane crept into the room, making her way to stand in front of Kate. "Put the gun down, Williams!"

Skylar just stared at the Detective. "What's the matter with you, Rizzoli?"

"You got three seconds to put the gun down before my partner and I put two rounds through your body!"

Skylar looked to the other side of the door where Frost stood with his gun pointed at her as well. "What did I do?"

"Put the gun down!" shouted Frost.

"Okay?" Skylar slowly placed the gun on the autopsy before Jane grabbed her, pulling both her arms behind her back causing her to scream in pain. "What the hell, Rizzoli!" shouted Skylar, struggling until the detective's grip. "Have you lost your mind?"

"Shut up!" Jane tightened the cuffs around Skylar's wrist.

"Jane, what are you doing?" asked Kate.

"Doyle was right, danger was closer than we thought! This bitch is Ari's partner!"

"I'm what?" questioned Skylar.

Jane pressed Skylar into the autopsy table. "Doyle looked at you this morning because he recognized you from their meetings!"

"I've never seen Paddy Doyle before today and I'm damn sure not working with Ari! I'm a fucking NCIS agent, for God sake!"

"You're a federal agent now because Boston Police department didn't want your sorry ass!"

"Listen to me! You got this all wrong! I don't know Paddy Doyle or Ari!" Skylar's phone began to ring.

Jane reached into Skylar's pocket answering it. "Hello?"

"Where are you? I told you to check in with me as soon as the job was done! Don't tell me you dropped the ball again?" said a male voice with an accent on the other line. The voice sighed. "Gibbs and Caitlin will be dead in a matter of hours, I hope I don't have to add you to the list!"

"Who is this?"

"Don't play dumb, you know exactly who this is."

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	25. Chapter 25

**Here we go! Chapter 25! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it but if I could, I would!**

Gibbs and Constance walked into Abby's lab and were greeted by the blaring of her music.

"Abby!" exclaimed Gibbs over the ambient noise.

Abby didn't budge, she continued to look into the loupe examining the diamond between the pair of tweezers in her hand.

"Abby!" With no response, Gibbs stormed over to the radio killing the music.

Abby looked up. "Oh hey, Gibbs!"

"My goodness, how do you work with your music up like that?" asked Constance.

"It helps me focus and I'm in serious need of focus with this task," said Abby looking at the pile of diamonds in front of her.

"What have you got?" asked Gibbs.

"Aside from one impeccable collection of flawless diamonds? Nothing. I've spent the entire night looking over these diamonds and none of them show any signs of a microchip."

"Are you sure?" asked Constance.

"You can take a look if you want but I got nothing."

Gibbs sighed. "We are running out of time. We are almost at the twenty-four hour mark, we have to find this thing."

"You don't think Ari will make another attempt at Caitlin in that time, do you?" asked Constance.

"I don't know what that bastard has up his sleeves."

"Ari is the least of our concern, right now" said Vance entering into the lab, carrying a file. "Gibbs, have you spoken to Tony?"

"No, why?"

"I just got a call from him. Detective Rizzoli has arrested Williams."

"What? Why?"

"Rizzoli and her partner discovered a connection between a Paddy Doyle and Williams. Apparently Doyle was approached by a man sometime back asking him to put a hit out on Kate. Doyle recognized Williams as his partner."

"You're kidding?" questioned Constance.

Vance handed Gibbs the file. "A Detective Frost faxed that to me."

Gibbs read the content of the file. "Williams was fired from Boston Police for suspicion of criminal activity. How the hell did she end up at NCIS?"

"She was never formally convicted of anything therefore she never had to speak of it."

"So Ari is using dirty cops to do his handiwork?"

"SecNav is sending his private jet to Boston to transport Williams back here. They should be here in the next few hours."

Gibbs shook his head. "He used an NCIS agent. She could have killed Kate and we never would have suspected her for one second. Slick bastard!" Gibbs phone rang and Gibbs answered without even looking at who was calling. "Yeah?"

"Time is ticking, Agent Gibbs. I hope you have my plans."

"Ari?"

"We are nearing the twenty-four hour mark, Gibbs. I hope you are not taking this assignment lightly. I would to hate to have to light a fire under your ass."

"I'll have your plans. I'll give them to you as soon as they wheel your body into autopsy!"

"I wouldn't be throwing around threats, Agent Gibbs. Not given just how vulnerable Caitlin is right now."

"Agent Williams is in custody. We know you were using her to get to Kate!"

"Was I?" He laughed. "Perhaps you should be focusing on finding my plans and less on my affiliates."

"I want a meeting! Me and you! I want to see your face!"

"Why? We've already met."

"Time changes people."

He laughed. "We will meet in due time, Gibbs."

The phone went dead.

"Dammit!" Gibbs slammed the phone down. "Abby!"

"I'm working on it! I'm running a trace on your phone right now but I'm not sure if the call was long enough for me to get anything," said Abby, typing away at her computer. "Dang it!"

"What?"

"The number is from a secure line. I can't get through!"

"Yes, you can!"

"Gibbs, you know what happened last time I did that!"

"Get McGee down here to help you! I want to know where that bastard is!" Gibbs stormed out the lab.

"This can't be good," said Constance.

"Get what you can on the call, Abby," said Vance.

"But what if I…"

"I got you covered! I need to go make a phone call, let me know when you have something." Vance left the lab.

At the airport in Boston, Kate watched from her seat as Ziva slammed Skylar down in one of the plush seats, in the back of SecNav's private jet.

"Don't move!" ordered Ziva as she shackled Skylar's feet to the seat, her arms still behind her back in cuffs. "If you value your life, you will not move an inch!"

Skylar looked at the ground the entire time.

Ziva walked to the front of the plane where Tony stood looking out the door. "We are ready to go. Williams is restrained in her seat."

"Good, just waiting on Rizzoli to get here and we are on our way." Tony looked off into the distance, where he spotted Jane approaching with her was Frost. "Nice of you to finally show up, Rizzoli! You do know we are working against the clock here?"

"Shut the hell up, DiNozzo!" snapped Jane walking up the stairs. "I had to run home for some clothes!"

"We are trying to prevent a murder here! We're not going to vacation!" Tony looked at Frost, who followed Jane, carrying a bag with him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"With you," replied Frost.

"And what makes you think this is any of your concern?"

"Jane told me everything. I'm here to help."

"Did we ask for your help?"

"Look, my partner and my colleague are involved in this which means I'm involved in it too! I have to have my partner's back which means I'm going with you! Now get the hell out of my way!"

Frost pushed past Tony, approaching Kate. "I hope you don't mind but I can't just sit on my hands!"

Kate cut her eyes at Jane.

"Don't look at me like that, Maur. I didn't plan on telling him, he did some research and started asking questions, I had to tell him. He swore he wouldn't tell anyone and he knows if he does, I will kick his ass!"

"I just trying to keep you safe, Doc," said Frost.

Kate nodded. "I appreciate that, Detective Frost."

Frost took a seat.

Tony looked at Jane. "Some friend you are! Can't even keep a secret!" snapped Tony.

Jane elbowed Tony before walking over to join Kate and Frost.

Tony grabbed his side in pain "Hey, you're not Kate! Only she can do that!"

The flight back to DC was pretty quiet. Jane took Frost aside, doing her best to bring him up to speed on what was happening, while Ziva kept watch over Skylar in the back of the plane. Kate sat quietly in her seat looking out the window. Tony walked over and sat down next from her.

"See anything good?" asked Tony.

"Aside from a few stratus and cumulus, not really," replied Kate.

"I'm going to assume you are talking about the clouds."

"You would be correct."

"See, I can be a genius too!"

"Is that what they call it?" smirked Kate.

"How's your headache?"

Kate rubbed her temple. "Still aching."

"Here," Tony handed Kate an ice pack. "Maybe this will help. Gibbs sees your eye like that, he'll kill me!"

"What you aren't going to multi-task and do it for me?"

Tony smiled. "Well seeing as how Bass is back in Boston with Angela, I think you can handle it yourself!"

Kate smiled and placed the ice pack on the side of her face. She caught sight of Skylar, sitting defeated a few seats away from her. "Skylar doesn't look so good."

Tony looked at Skylar. "Who cares? She's getting what she deserves! By the time Gibbs gets done with her, she is going to look a lot worse."

"I mean she looks like she's in pain! Her medication has probably worn off by now."

"So? Since when do you care about a terrorist being in pain?"

Kate was quiet for a moment. "I have a funny feeling about her."

"You don't have to worry about her, Kate. She's not going to hurt you."

Kate turned towards Tony. "She was working with Ari all this time and yet she never once tried to harm me herself."

"Is your concussion missing with your thought process? She pulled her gun on you!"

"But she never once pointed at me and when Jane told her to put in down she did! If she was going to kill me, she would have whether Jane was there or not!"

"Where are you going with this?"

Kate stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"I want to talk to her." Kate walked over where Ziva and Skylar were seated. "Ziva, would you excuse us for a moment? I want to talk to Skylar."

"I do not think that is a good idea, Kate," replied Ziva. "There is no telling what she is capable of."

Kate looked at Skylar, staring at the ground in front of her unmoved. "I don't think she is capable of very much right now."

Ziva glanced at Skylar and then at Kate. "I will be right over there." Ziva got up allowing Kate to take her seat across from Skylar.

Kate sat back in her seat, examining Skylar. She looked weak and helpless, her arms cuffed behind her making it impossible for her to sit back comfortably when the shackles on her feet pulled her feet under her in the most uncomfortable fashion.

Skylar groaned as she shifted in her seat.

"Your arm hurts?"

Skylar didn't look at her. "Being handcuffed like this isn't exactly comfortable after you've been stabbed in the arm with an ice pick. It feels like my stitches are about to burst!"

"Your stitches rupturing would result in you bleeding out again, which would require immediate medical attention. Being up here, your only option would be for me to crudely stitching you back up which would cause you a great deal of pain."

Skylar looked up. "I'm sure you would enjoy that."

"Probably not as much as you would enjoy killing me."

"I was never going to kill you. I never would! You all have this all wrong! This fucking medication has my head all over the place! I didn't mean to pull my gun on you like that!"

"Right, your medication is the reason you are working a terrorist murder me!"

Skylar shock her head in disbelief. "That has to be the shittiest explanation ever, wasn't it?"

"Yes but I think it's valid. From a physical stand point, it appeared that you were heavily under the influence of some type of drug. You don't exactly strike me as the hit woman type or the terrorist for that matter."

"I'm not."

"You want to explain?"

"What's the point? You aren't going to believe me."

"Try me."

Skylar swallowed, gathering her thoughts. "I screwed up! I should have said something! I knew he was up to no good but I worked so hard to get my badge and I didn't want to risk losing it because of speculation. I was a rookie, my job was to follow orders which is what I did!"

"What orders?"

"I was just a tag along. They'd bring me to the meetings as a lookout, make sure no one was trailing us. Clearing I wasn't any good at it because if I was, I would have seen those IA guys watching us. I was guilty by association, lost my badge all because I was there with those assholes!"

"You never dealt with Doyle?"

"I simply saw him through the window of the car while they were conducting whatever business they were involved in. My partner was the one dealing with Doyle."

"So what happened after that? You lost your badge and then Ari approached you to start working with him?"

"Kate, I have never seen Ari!"

"He called your phone, Skylar."

"I have no idea how that happened! Kate, you have to believe me! I'm not trying to kill you!"

Kate sat quietly watching Skylar for several minutes, studying her every move and facial muscle movement carefully before getting up.

Skylar watched Kate walked towards Ziva. "Kate?"

Kate reached her hand out to Ziva. "May I see your cuff keys?"

Ziva handed Kate the keys. "What are you doing?"

Kate didn't answer returning back to Skylar kneeling in front of her. Kate undid Skylar's cuffs around her wrists allowing her arms to fall in a more natural position.

Skylar sighed in relief.

"I don't usually listen to my intestine but my gut is telling me that you're telling me the truth," said Kate.

Skylar smiled. "Thank you, Kate."

Kate reached around pulling Skylar's arms in front of her putting the cuffs back on. "But I'm also not stupid! Until I find adequate evidence to prove your innocence, you are still a suspect."

"That's fair."

"Don't make me look like a fool, Williams."

Abby and McGee worked away in Abby's lab trying to trace Ari's call to Gibbs.

"Geez, Ari is good! This line is impossible to get into!" said McGee.

"We have to crack this McGee! We have to find this bastard!" exclaimed Abby.

"There's no need for that anymore, Ms. Scuito," said Vance walking into the lab.

"What do you mean? If we can find where this call came from, we can find Ari!"

"The only place you are going to find Ari is six feet underground. He's dead. I got in touch with some connects at Mossad, upon receiving Ari's body they did a DNA test and confirmed that the body was actually that of Ari Haswari. He's been dead for the last eight years. He's not our man."

"If this isn't Ari, then who is it?"

"Got it!" exclaimed McGee, staring at the computer screen with a grin of his face. "I got into the line!"

Abby and Vance both looked at the screen.

"That can't be right," said Vance, examining the screen.

"McGee, did you screw something up?" asked Abby.

"No, I didn't screw anything up!" retorted McGee.

"You had too! There is no way that's right!"

"I entered all the codes correctly, Abby! This is where the call came from!"

"McGee that says the call came from NCIS."

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey everyone, my deepest apologizes for the long wait. I've had some family issues come up and my head just hasn't been with writing but time is a healer and I think I got my groove back so…**

**Here we go! Chapter 26! Enjoy :-)**

**Let's not waste time with technicalities, you know the deal…**

"What do you mean this isn't Ari?" snapped Gibbs.

"He's dead, Gibbs. It's been confirmed," replied Vance watching Gibbs pace back and forth in the Squad Room.

"Then who the hell is after Kate?"

"We traced the call to your phone back to NCIS," explained McGee.

"NCIS? Someone here is behind this?"

"It appears that way. Abby and McGee are downstairs running a search to see if they can isolate which line the call came from."

"You mean to tell me that whoever is behind this has been here the entire time?" Gibbs froze for a moment before slamming his hands down on his desk. "I want to know who this bastard is, Leon!"

"We are working on it, Gibbs."

"Not fast enough! Twenty-four hours, Leon! Twenty-four hours and this nut job plans to come after me and Kate! If he's working inside this building, there's no telling what he's planning!"

"I have increased security in and around the building. As the director of this agency I need for you to trust me in that I will keep you and Kate safe from whoever this is!"

"You're going to keep us safe? This psycho got in here under your watch, Leon!"

"We will find him, Agent Gibbs! I just need for you to cooperate with me."

"Cooperate, right?" Gibbs stormed off towards the elevator.

"Where are you going?" shouted Vance.

"I need coffee!" Gibbs disappeared into the elevator.

"Give him some time," said Constance. "His sight was so focused on Ari, having to change course is going to be difficult for him."

Vance pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know. Hell, I can't blame him, knowing that this bastard is here isn't an easy pill for me to swallow either." Vance slunk against Tony's desk.

"I'm going to call Tony and get him up to speed on things. If this is inside the agency, Williams needs to be under close watch to ensure she doesn't tip off her counterparts."

"Good idea, they should be landing soon. I have an SUV waiting for them at the airport. I was going to send over a team of agents to escort Williams back but I'm not sure if that's a good idea anymore. I need to keep this as contained as possible."

"I'll go over see her transport, Director."

"You don't mind?"

"Not at all. This is my daughter's well-being we are talking about."

Vance nodded.

Tony sighed as he hung up his cell phone.

Jane walked up to Tony. "What's up?"

"He's dead."

"Who's dead?"

"Ari. Just got off the phone with C.J., Vance confirmed it. Ari is in fact dead."

"What the fuck? If Ari is dead then who the hell called Williams?"

"Gibbs got another call from who he thought was Ari, the call came from NCIS!"

"NCIS? Other agents are involved this too?"

"Should have known she wasn't working alone."

"Well, I say we get to the bottom of this now!"

"Jane, no!"

Jane stomped over to where Kate and Williams where engaged in conversation. She pulled Skylar up by the collar slamming her against the wall of the plane. "Once a dirty cop, always a dirty cop huh?"

"Jane, what are you doing?" exclaimed Kate causing Ziva and Frost to come see what was going on.

"Ari is dead, this little piece of shit is working with someone inside NCIS to kill you!"

"I am not!" gritted Skylar.

"Who called you, Williams?"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know? Just like you didn't know about Doyle back in Boston? Protecting your fellow dirty ass agents just like you protected those dirty cops?"

"The only person I'm trying to protect is Kate!"

"Like hell, you are."

"What do I have to do to prove to you, I'm not involved in this?"

"Start talking!"

"I told you everything! I am not a terrorist! I am not a dirty cop and I'm not trying to kill Kate!"

The captain came over the intercom telling everyone to take their seats for landing.

"Rizzoli, back off!" said Tony, pulling the detective away from Williams.

"I'll be damn if I let her hurt Maura! You hear me? I will kill you my damn self before I let that happen! You're going to tell who you are dealing with, so help me!"

Tony nudged Jane towards her seat.

Kate stepped towards Williams. "I told you not to make a fool of me."

"I'm not, I swear!"

Stepping off the plane, the group was greeted by the sight of Constance leaning next to a sedan, a black SUV accompanying it.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here" smiled Tony, approaching the woman.

"Director Vance asked that I come oversee Williams' transportation back to NCIS."

"I think we have enough law enforcement on hand to handle transporting one suspect back to base, don't you think?"

"Given the circumstances, the more, the better. Where is Caitlin?"

Kate walked up. "I'm right here."

Constance clasped her hand over her mouth at the sight of Kate's bruised eye. "My dear child." She grabbed hold of Kate's chin, examining her face. "Tell me you left him looking worse than you do?"

"I think the needle sticking out his chest did that."

Constance slapped Tony in the back of the head.

"What was that for?" asked Tony.

"You were supposed to look after her! You think that hurt want until Gibbs gets ahold of you!"

"Speaking of Gibbs, where is he?"

"Back at NCIS probably riding Abby and McGee about getting information on that phone call."

"Find anything new?"

"Nothing yet. They are working on pinpointing exactly where the call came from within the building."

"I can't believe our own are involved in this."

"Me either, but having Williams in custody might help draw out the rest."

Ziva came walking up with Williams, still in cuffs.

"Well if it isn't the little traitor now," smirked Constance.

"I'm innocent," retorted Skylar.

"It's funny, you keep saying that and yet no one believes you!" spat Jane.

"Put her in the SUV, Ziva. You and Rizzoli can drive her back to NCIS. Gibbs can't wait to talk to her. Tony, you and Kate can ride with me." Constance noticed Frost standing in the back. "Detective Frost?"

"Mrs. Isles," nodded Frost. "Or should I be calling you something else now?"

Constance looked at Kate.

"He knows," replied Kate.

"I'm hoping your presence means you are here to help not hurt?"

"That's the plan," replied Frost.

"Very well," Constance tossed the keys to Tony. "You drive, I can't stand D.C. traffic."

The group loaded into their cars. Tony drove the sedan with Kate in the passenger's seat, Constance behind her and Frost on the other side while Ziva manned the SUV, Skylar handcuffed in back and Jane in the passenger's seat.

Back at NCIS, Gibbs walked impatiently around Abby's lab, watching her plasma screen closely as she worked at her computer.

"What's taking so long?" snapped Gibbs, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

"Trying it access the NCIS call records is not an easy task, Gibbs! You have to give me some time," replied Abby.

"We don't have time, Abbs!"

"Gibbs, I'm really going to need for you to chill out! I can't work with you down my back like this!" Abby typed away at her computer. "Okay, I got something!"

Gibbs rushed over to stand next to Abby, looking at the screen. "What do you got?"

"I've been running a search of the calls going out of NCIS, seeing if I can find what phone it came from," Abby pointed at the screen filled with numerous phone numbers. "These are all of NCIS' outgoing calls. The highlighted ones are the ones to your phone." Abby typed some more pulling up a shorter list. "These are numbers that those calls to you came from." Abby clicked the mouse bringing up a list of names to go with the number.

Gibbs studied the screen. "Those are mostly McGee, Ziva, Tony, Ducky and you."

"All the other calls to your phone for the NCIS don't line up with the time of the call."

"You said the call came from NCIS!"

"McGee and I traced it, it came from within NCIS."

"Then why isn't it showing up?"

McGee rushed in the lab, huffing and puffing. "We've been hacked!"

"What?" questioned Abby.

"I wanted to double check and make sure I didn't do something wrong on the trace. I tried some different configurations to find the caller location and that's when I found it. Someone has tapped into the NCIS modem and has been running an alternate phone line remotely using a NCIS number. The call you got didn't come from NCIS, just an NCIS line."

"Which line?" asked Gibbs.

"Whoever did this is good, they routed the line so that you couldn't trace it back to any particular line but I'm smarter!" McGee took over Abby's computer bringing up a new screen. "Instead of tracing where the signal was coming from, I traced where it was going to, seeing if maybe it would give us some clues and I found this."

"It's an outgoing call list," said Abby in awe.

"I'm assuming he's using some type of burn phone to run the signal through."

"Looks like he only uses the phone to call me, there are no other outgoing calls," said Gibbs.

"Yeah, but there are a hell of a lot of incoming calls. All from the same number," said Abby.

"I can try and see if I can pull any information on the phone," said McGee.

"I got a better idea," said Gibbs taking out his phone.

Ziva laid on the SUV horn, for what felt like an eternity as she, Jane and Skylar sat unmoved on the D.C. street. "Why are we not moving?"

"Man, this traffic is ridiculous," said Skylar, innocently for the back seat.

"What? You in a hurry to get to your jail cell," replied Jane, looking at Skylar through the visor mirror.

Skylar didn't reply, she simply shifted in her seat.

"There must be an accident ahead."

"Must be. Do you see Tony anywhere?" asked Ziva.

"I think they are a few cars ahead of us."

The sound of vibrating filled the air.

"Someone's phone is going off," said Jane.

Ziva looked at her phone. "It's not mine."

"Mine either," Jane looked at Skylar.

"You took my phone, remember?" replied Skylar.

Jane leaned over into the backseat, pulling Skylar's bag over the seat. Placing her ear to the bag, she heard the sound of vibrating coming from the bag. She looked at Skylar. "Why is your bag vibrating?" Jane reached into the side of the bag pulling out a cell phone. "You have another phone."

"I can explain it's…" Skylar started before Jane held up her hand silencing her.

Jane answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Rizzoli?" came Gibbs' voice on the other line.

"Gibbs?"

"Rizzoli, why are you answering this number?"

"This is Williams's phone."

"Gibbs? How did he get that number?" asked Skylar.

"I got this number off of a list of calls made from this bastard's phone."

Jane looked back at Skylar.

"It's a work phone, I swear! He gave it to me so he could keep track of me," said Skylar.

"He who?" Jane looked down at the display of the phone.

A few cars ahead, a police officer approached Tony's car, tapping on the window.

Tony rolled down the window. "Yes, officer?"

"Where you head to sir"

"The Naval Yard."

"Got a pretty bad accident ahead. We are closing down the road."

"This is the main entrance."

"I'm sorry, sir."

Tony flashed his badge. "We're federal officers. We work at NCIS. We are transporting a suspect, we need to get through."

"I'm sorry, sir. We are directing all traffic to a side street if you wouldn't mind following the detour another officer will point you where to go."

"Alright," replied Tony, rolling up the window following the detour.

Driving along the side road, Tony, Kate, Constance and Frost found themselves alone.

"That's strange," said Kate. "Seems that no other cars are taking this route."

"That is strange," said Frost looking at their surroundings. "Maybe we are the only people heading to NCIS?"

Kate looked up to see a car racing towards Tony's side of the car. "Tony, look out!" shouted Kate as a car came barreling towards the driver's side of the car from an intersecting street sending the car into a spin.

The sound of screeching tires and breaking glass filled the sedan, the world outside of them spinning none stop until the impact with a light post stopped them.

The car was silent.

Tony was the first to open his eyes. "Kate," was all he said as he ignore whatever pain he may or may not have been feeling. "Kate! Kate answer me!" Tony reached over lightly, shaking the blonde. Slouched over in her seat, Kate's eyes slow fluttered open and Tony breathes a sigh of relief. "You okay?"

"Yeah," replied Kate, shifting in her seat. "I think so."

Grunting from the backseat alerted Tony as Frost and Constance began to move.

"We're fine back here, DiNozzo. Thanks for asking," grunted Frost, brushing away broken glass.

"I'm not," winced Constance.

Tony looked back to see that Constance's right side was wedged between the seat and the part of door that had been pushed in due to the SUV sliding into the light pole.

"Hold on, I'll help you." Kate was about to undue her seatbelt when the sound of a gun cocking of a gun beside her ear made her freeze.

"Don't move!" said the man, his voice heavy with an accent. "Agent Todd, I presume. You are a very hard woman to get ahold of!" The man opened Kate's door. "Get out the car!"

Kate looked at Tony, who simply nodded for her to comply. Kate got out the car and the man forcefully pushed her against the door.

Tony went to reach for his gun.

The man pointed the gun pointed straight at Kate's chest. "You pull out that gun, I put a bullet straight through her heart."

"Please don't hurt me," pleaded Kate.

"Oh, I am not the one you need to worry about!"

"No, I am!"

Kate looked up to see Jane standing with her gun pointed at the man.

"Game's over, asshole! Put the gun down or I will leave all sorts of brain matter all over this street for Maura to analyze later."

The man dropped his gun, with a smile on his face. "The game is not over, it has only just begun."

"Oh but it is!" Jane pushed the man to the ground.

"I will not talk! I will not talk until our mission is complete!"

"You don't need to talk," Jane looking up at Kate and then into the distance where Skylar stood next to the SUV, uncuffed. "We already got all the information we need."

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon (be prepared for a whole lot of "Tate"ness) ;-)**


	27. Chapter 27

**Here we go! Chapter 27! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it. All I own are this concept, my original character and every season of both shows on DVD.**

Gibbs rushed into the hospital emergency room where Jane and Frost stood in the waiting room. "Rizzoli!"

Jane turned around.

"Is everyone okay?"

"For the most part. Constance's arm was crushed between the light pole and the car, she is going to need surgery. She's pissed because they messed up her shooting hand. She said as soon as we catch him to bring him to her so she can break her foot off in his ass!"

"She'll have to have to wait in line," Gibbs looked the young detective standing with Jane. "Who are you?"

Frost extended his hand. "Detective Barry Frost, B.P.D."

Gibbs looked at Jane.

"He knows," replied Jane.

"Detective, you are aware this is an NCIS investigation? We don't need B.P.D. on this."

"Yes, but Jane is my partner and Maura is a good friend. I couldn't just sit back and let something happen to them. I'm here to help in any way I can."

"You efforts are appreciated, Detective. What happened?"

"The car came out of nowhere. The driver jumped out and pulled a gun on Maura, luckily Jane and Ziva weren't far behind us."

Jane pulled out Williams' phone. "He had a bug on the phone. He's knew where we were all this time because of it. It's how he was able to track us in Boston. I think the detour was a trap. He used the bug to calculate our location and then waited for the car to arrive."

Gibbs examined the phone. "That son of a bitch."

"Williams had no idea."

"I'm sure she didn't. Where is she now?"

"I may have handcuffed her in a way that ruptured some of her stitches, she's being seen."

"Where are Tony and Kate?"

Tony squirmed as he sat on the hospital bed, blood dripping from a gash on his nose.

"Stop moving, Tony!" scolded Kate, standing next to Tony. "You're making it hard for Steven to clean you up!"

"You would be squirming too if you were sitting where I am," Tony eyed the hairy, male nurse with a large needle in his hand, standing on the other side of the bed.

"Ah, I see. Would you be more comfortable if Nurse Emma were doing this?"

"Maybe."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, she isn't here! Now your nose is fractured from hitting your head on the steering wheel and you have a laceration that needs sutures! Let Steven do his job and fix you up."

Tony shook his head no.

"Tony!"

"It's not Steven I have the problem with! It's the…" Tony eyeballed the needle in Steven's hand.

"Tony, are you trypanophoic?"

"I will try a lot of things in the bedroom but I don't think that's one of them!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Trypanophobia is the fear of needles."

"No, I'm not afraid of needles, I just don't like them! I've broken my nose before and I don't recall them having to use a giant needle to pop it back into place!"

"The needle is for administering the numbing medication so I can stitch up your laceration," explained Steven.

"Can you just give me some really good drugs instead?"

"God, you are such a child! I can see he is going to be a difficult patient so Steven if you don't mind, I will stitch up, Agent DiNozzo."

Steven handed Kate the needle. "By all means, Dr. Isles." Steven left.

Tony stared at Kate, who had a sinister look in her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling I should have let Steven do this?"

"Relax," Kate put on a pair of gloves. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

"I don't believe you! This could be payback from all those times I teased you when we worked together."

"This isn't payback. This is me, a doctor, taking care of a patient. Now would you just relax?" Kate unconsciously stood in between Tony's leg, to get closer to him.

"This isn't going to hurt is it?" Tony voice shook, unsure of how to interpret their new closeness.

"Not if you sit still," Kate gently held Tony's nose. "The object is to focus your mind on something other than the needle."

"What should I focus on?"

"I don't know? Pick an object in the room and focus on that."

"If you say so," Tony took a moment to glace around the room. There wasn't much to look at in the curtained E.R. room to hold his attention. It wasn't until his eye caught sight of Kate's that his attention was held. Her hazel eyes looked up at him, the perfect mixture of green with specks of brown, gave him a sense of calm he had never felt before.

"All done!"

"What?"

"I'm done administering the numbing agent. That wasn't so bad was it?"

Tony smiled. "Not at all!"

"I'm going stitch you up and reset your nose now."

"You have to use a needle to stitch up my nose don't you?"

"You won't feel a thing. Just focus on the object in the room like you did before."

"Okay," Tony once again allowing himself to get caught up in Kate's eyes. Only this time, he caught his gaze shifting a bit as his eyes moved down Kate's face. A smile came across his face.

"What are you smiling about?"

"What? Nothing! Just thinking?"

"They better be clean thoughts?"

Tony chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Well, your stitches are done."

"Just like that?"

"Yep!"

"There isn't going to be a scar is there? Cause this," Tony circled his face with his finger. "Is the moneymaker!"

Kate chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Kate gently placed a butterfly bandage on Tony's nose.

"I thought you had to reset my nose?"

"I do," Kate pinched Tony's nose, jerking it back into place causing him to yell in pain.

"Ow! You could have warned me first!"

Kate laughed. "Payback for teasing me!"

"Geez that really hurt!"

"Aww, I'm sorry," cooed Kate, gently stroking the bridge of Tony's nose with her finger.

"Sure you are. Is this going to swell?"

"Apply ice."

"Maybe you can do it for me?"

Kate smiled flirtingly. "I'm not a very good A multi-tasking."

"So single task."

"Are you two done?"

Tony and Kate looked up to see Gibbs standing behind them.

"Hey Boss, Kate was just fixing my nose," said Tony.

"I see. He going to live, Kate?"

"Yeah, he should be fine," replied Kate, pulling off her gloves, unnerved by Gibbs sudden appearance.

Gibbs stared at the pair.

"What's going on, Boss?" asked Tony, trying to break the silence.

"We found him."

"You did? How?" asked Tony, hopping off the bed to follow Gibbs along with Kate.

"Williams."

"Williams? She rolled? What did you make a deal with her or something?"

"I don't deal! Rizzoli, Frost and I are going to head back to NCIS and find out everything we can on him. Tony, take Kate to your place. You two stay there until I tell you otherwise."

"I want to help, Gibbs," said Kate.

Gibbs stopped in his tracks. "No! I want you out of harm's way! Go with Tony."

"You call going with Tony getting me out of harm's way?"

Gibbs gave Kate a cold gaze.

"I'll go with Tony."

At NCIS, Gibbs put his team to work finding everything they could on their suspect, even ordering Jane and Frost as if they were one of his own.

"What do we have? McGee?"

"His NCIS personal records are clean, Boss." said McGee.

"No records of suspicious activity?"

"None."

"Frost?"

"Ran a background check. It's flawless!" said Frost from Tony's desk. "And he has no connection to B.P.D. or Boston for that matter."

"Clean background and NCIS record? Anyone find anything that may indicate a connection to Kate? Or Ari for that matter?"

"No," replied the two men in unison.

Ziva and Jane walked in.

"No sign of him at his apartment think he may have skipped town," said Ziva, joining the group along with Jane.

"Found these though," Jane dropped a stack of files on Gibbs' desk.

"These are NCIS case files," said Gibbs, looking at the stack.

"Want me to go through them, see what he was looking at?"

"No, I'll do it. Abby is up to her neck examining those diamonds downstairs, you and Ziva go help her. McGee, Frost, I want a connection between him and Kate and look into Williams phone, see if it can give us any other clues," Gibbs stood up and head for the elevator. "I better have something within the hour!"

"Where are you going, Gibbs?" asked Ziva.

Gibbs entered the elevator.

Jane, Frost, Ziva and McGee all looked at each other.

"Is he always like that?" asked Frost.

"Yep, that's Gibbs for ya," replied McGee.

"How do you deal with that?"

"I'm guessing it's full on Stockholm syndrome," smirked Jane.

"He's really a nice guy once you get to know him," said Ziva.

"Yeah but I wouldn't test that theory. If I were you, I would have something in an hour!"

"And I thought working with you was bad!" Frost trudged back to Tony's desk.

Ziva and Jane walked into Abby's lap, were the Goth sat hunched over her lab table looking into a loupe at a diamond between a pair of tweezers.

"Another dud," sighed Abby, tossing the diamond into a pile, picking up another.

"Need some help?" asked Jane.

Abby looked at the brunette through the loupe. "Who are you?"

"This is Detective Jane Rizzoli," said Ziva.

"Rizzoli?"

"I'm a friend of Maura's," explained Jane

Abby smiled, jumping out of her chair to wrap Jane in a bear hug. "It's so nice to finally meet you!"

Jane looked to Ziva for help.

"Abby is a hugger," replied Ziva.

"Why are you hugging me?"

"I was so worried that Kate was all alone for these last eight year but to know she had someone looking out for her who wasn't involved in this stupid undercover operation made me so happy!"

"I'm glad to hear that but could you please let me go? I'm really not a hugger," gasped Jane in Abby's hold.

"Too bad!" Abby hugged Jane tighter before letting her go.

"Gibbs told us to come help you examine the diamonds," said Ziva.

"Pull up a stool! I got plenty to go around! I've looked at so many diamonds my eyes are starting to cross! I could use an extra set of eyes."

Jane and Ziva took a seat, picking up microscopes and diamonds to help Abby.

"So were you and Kate friends?" asked Jane.

"Best friends!" replied Abby. "We hung out all the time and told each other everything! Are you Maura's best friend?"

"I'd like to think so."

"Are you like best friends in the sense that you two work together and happened to know a bit about each other's personal lives or best friends in the since that you know about the tattoo on her butt?"

Jane's mouth dropped open. "She has a tattoo on her ass?"

"Yeah, it's a butterfly on her right cheek! She got it after one of our girls' night out. She was so wasted! She was going to get her nipples pierced too but I talked her out of it! I don't think a federal agent should be walking around like that."

"No, they shouldn't," Jane was still in shock. "She has a tattoo?"

"I'm guessing you didn't know about that?"

"No, I didn't. But I'll be sure to bring it up to her in our next conversation. Anything else I should know about Maura?"

Abby thought for a moment. "Oh, she was in a wet t-shirt contest in college!"

"Was she?" Jane looked at Ziva, who sat back laughing.

"Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this stuff?"

"No, us being Maura's best friends, should know these kinds of things about her especially for those times to she decides to divulge information about me to my mother that she really doesn't need to know! Please continue!"

At Tony's apartment, Kate jumped in the shower, while Tony changed into a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, gathering up blankets and pillows to make his stay on the couch for the night a bit more comfortable. The doorbell rang, singling the arrival of their Chinese food dinner. Kate still in the bathroom, Tony set the meal out on the coffee table for them to enjoy in the living room and cued up a movie for them to watch afterwards. Tony was just about to sit down, when an exclamation of "ow" from the bathroom alerted him.

"Kate? You okay?" asked Tony, walking towards the bathroom.

"Ow! Crap!" was her only reply.

Tony knocked on the door. "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

Tony could hear pain in Kate's voice. "You okay in there?"

"Yeah…Ow! I'm okay."

Tony didn't believe her. "Open up!"

"I'm okay."

"Open the door, Kate!"

A heavy sigh came through the door before it swung open to reveal Kate, dressed in purple set of silk pajamas.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing."

"You are doing an awful lot of "owing" for nothing."

"It's just a cut."

"Where?"

"On my shoulder."

"Let me see."

"Its fine, Tony. I got it."

"Just let me see!"

"In order for you to see it I would have to take off my shirt and that ain't gonna happen!"

"Fine, you want to get blood all over silk pajamas, go ahead!"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine!" Kate turned around, unbuttoning part of her shirt to reveal her shoulder and the deep cut running across her shoulder.

"Geez! How did you do that?"

"It must have happened during the accident. I didn't even notice until I got in the shower and water hit it. Does it look bad?"

"Yeah, but it's nothing a Band-Aid won't fix. Here, sit down." Tony lead Kate to sit on the toilet lid while he went through his medicine cabinet grabbing some alcohol and bandages. He kneeled down next to Kate. "I'm just going to clean out the cut and put a bandage on it, okay?"

Kate nodded.

Tony paused as he ogled at the sight before him. Here was Caitlin Todd, shirt half off, sitting right in front of him. Her creamy skin and tone back exposed to only his eyes. This moment had the makings of a Tony DiNozzo fantasy.

"Are you going to put the Band-Aid on or what?"

Tony was pulled from his daze. "Um, yeah!" He reached over into a drawer grab some gloves, pulling them on. "Safety first!"

"Yes, I would hate to catch whatever disease you have raging in your blood!"

Tony twisted open the alcohol, pouring some on a cotton pad, placing it on Kate's shoulder.

"Crap, Tony! That hurts!"

"Sorry! I have to clean out the cut!"

Kate hissed with pain as Tony wiped her shoulder clean with the cotton pad.

"Does it hurt that bad?"

"It just burns."

"Here, let me cool it off," Tony began to blow a gentle stream of cool air onto Kate's shoulder.

Kate could feel chills run down her spine as the cool air made contact with her skin.

"Better?"

Kate looked over her shoulder at Tony. "Yeah," she replied shyly.

Tony smiled before placing a bandage on Kate's shoulder. "There, all better!"

Kate looked down and at her bandaged shoulder. "Thanks." Kate pulled her shirt back over her shoulder, buttoning it.

Tony took Kate's hands helping her stand up. He locked eyes with hers and the two of them stood silently in each other's gaze for a moment.

The intensity of the moment became too much for Kate as she looked at the floor. "Man, I'm really hungry. Did the food get here yet?"

Tony cleared his throat. "Ah, I ordered us some Chinese. I set it out on the coffee table…"

Before Tony could finish his sentence, Kate walked pass him heading for the living room.

Exhaling a deep breath, Tony turned off the light in the bathroom and followed after her.

Kate sat down on one end of the sofa and Tony took a seat on the other, the two of them trying hard to avoid eye contact with the other. Kate's phone began to vibrate on her end of the coffee table.

"Who's that?" asked Tony.

Kate picked up her phone. "It's a text from Jane. 'Just met your BFF Abby, we have a lot to talk about, butterfly?'"

"What is she talking about?"

"I don't know," Kate put the phone down. "What did you order?"

"Well, I got myself some Chow Mein and I got you some Shrimp Fried Rice like you used to get but I wasn't sure if you were eating more like Kate or Maura so I got some stir fried vegetable too," replied Tony.

"I still like Shrimp Fried Rice but the vegetables are definitely a health addition to the meal."

Tony smiled. "So I did good?"

"Yes Tony, you did well."

Tony handed Kate her food along with some chopsticks. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Kate settled into the sofa and began to eat her food.

Tony watched as Kate delicately ate her food. "You like it?"

"It's not bad." Kate watched Tony shovel a forkful of his food in his mouth. She giggled. "I see you still haven't mastered chopsticks."

Tony laughed. "No, I haven't."

An awkward silence came between them as they ate their food. Tony cut his eyes at Kate, gazing at her but then quickly pulling his focus back to his food when he felt her about to catch him looking. Little did he know, she was doing the same.

"Did you miss me?" asked Kate out of nowhere.

"What?" questioned Tony, mouth full of Chow Mein.

"These last eight years, have you thought about me?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders. "From time to time."

"That's it? From time to time?"

"I couldn't let what happen to you stop me from doing my job or living. It was hard but I had to move on."

"You moved on? So what Ziva joined the team and you just forgot about me?"

"I didn't forget about you but you were dead, Kate. Ziva joined the team and we kept going."

Kate was quiet as she fiddled with the food in her hand. She put her food down and stood up.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not as hungry as I thought I was. I'm going to head to bed," Kate headed for Tony's bedroom.

Tony followed behind her. "You going to be okay by yourself? Don't need me to sleep in there with you?"

Kate stood in the doorway. "No, I think I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

Kate tilted her head. "Do you want to sleep in here with me, Tony?"

Tony paused. "No, I'm alright out here. On the couch. I'm just making sure you are okay."

Kate looked at Tony for a moment. "I'll be fine. Goodnight, Tony."

"Goodnight."

Kate closed the door.

Tony stood outside the door, mentality kicking himself. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Tony swung his fist in the air as he made his way back to the sofa. "Why did you say that, you jackass? Of course I missed you, Kate! Every damn day for the last eight years! I haven't moved on, I've been at a standstill since the day you died!" Tony flopped down on the couch. "Do I want to sleep in there with you? Yes! I want to sleep in there with you, and hold you and feel you in my arms where you should have been all this time!" Tony pulled a pillow over his face. "It's not every day you get a second chance with a woman you thought died, DiNozzo! Keep it up and she's going to leave you again and never know that you…"

"Do you always talk to yourself?"

Tony removed the pillow, seeing Kate standing in the open doorway. "Sometimes. You heard that didn't you?"

"I heard."

Tony sat up putting the pillow at his side.

"Why did you lie?"

"Because the truth hurts too much. I try not to think about it."

"And the truth is?"

Tony got up and approached Kate. "That eight years ago, I watched you get gunned down on a rooftop before I ever got the courage to tell you," Tony paused taking a deep breathe. "That I loved her."

Kate was speechless.

"I was in love with you, Kate."

"You were in love with me? Why didn't you just say something?"

"Because I was afraid. I didn't want to ruin the relationship we did have. I didn't want you to reject me. I figured it was better to just have you as a friend then not to have you at all. It wasn't until I nearly died from the plague, that I realized life is too short to not tell you how I really felt but by the time I finally got the courage to tell you how much I cared about you, it was too late. Instead, I was forced to spend the rest of my life, wondering what would have happened had I told you."

"That you were in love with me?"

"You are my "one," Kate. My one that got away."

"But you said you moved on."

"I haven't. I tried, I really did but no one could ever make me feel the way you did." Tony looked down at his feet. "That's why I kept your I.D. badge. It was the last piece of you I could keep with me. I never let you go, Kate."

Kate didn't say anything.

"I'm sorry, I lied to you. I didn't…"

"What were you hoping would happen?"

Tony stopped. "What?"

"Had you of told me how you felt. How were you hoping I would respond?"

He hesitated at first but couldn't keep this to himself anymore. Closing the gap between them, he gently held Kate's chin. Closing his eyes, he placed his lips to hers. "I love you, Kate."

Silence.

"Please say something."

She said nothing. She just stood there.

Tony opened his eyes, putting his head down. "I was hoping that wouldn't happen."

Suddenly, Tony felt Kate's arms snake around his neck and she stood on her tip-toes to kiss him. Tony leaned forehead against Kate's, looking into her captivating eyes. Their lips met again and within seconds the passion between them heated up as Tony's hands travelled down Kate's slender body, finding their way to her waist, pulling their bodies together. Never breaking the connection, Kate slowly took steps back into the bedroom. No words were needed.

**What do you think? "Tate" enough for you? I hope so because there is more to come. Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	28. Chapter 28

**I have to say that your reviews and comments really make my day. I'm so glad so many of you are enjoying my writing because I truly do enjoy writing TATE stories and I do plan to write more. I just wanted to say THANK YOU!**

**Here we go! Chapter 28! Enjoy :-)**

**You know the deal, I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it so let's just get to the action.**

Tony laid in bed staring at Kate, who was fast asleep in his arms. He reached down to pull the covers over her, given that all of her clothes, along with his, had been thrown about the room and the chill in the air was causing her to shiver in his embrace. He smiled as she snuggled further into him. This wasn't at all how he imagined the moment he told Kate he loved her going. No, it was a thousand times better. Instead of the slap to the back of the head or the elbow to the gut, he spent the better part of the night making love to the woman he loved and who he now knew felt the same, ending with her sleeping peacefully in his arms. Tony kissed her now honey-blonde locks, taking in her sweet scent.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" mumbled Kate.

"Still trying to come down for this high," smiled Tony.

"What high?"

Tony interlocked his fingers into Kate's, wrapping her even tighter in his arms. "The high of knowing that I just made love for the first time."

"I'm more that positive that this was not your first time having sex."

Tony laughed. "No, it definitely wasn't my first time having sex but was the first time I made love to a woman."

"And the difference is?"

"Sex is just that, it's a physical act of pleasure between two people but making love, requires an emotional attachment. You do it for more than just the pleasure of the act, you do it for the pleasure of that person. I told myself that the first time I made love to a woman, it would be with the woman that I love and that's what just happened."

Kate rolled over to face Tony.

"You know how much I dreamed about this day?" Tony kissed Kate.

"You realize this changes everything."

"That was kind of the point."

"What does this mean for us?"

"I'm hoping it means there can be an "us"."

"You want there to be an "us"?"

"The whole me saying that I love you and then making love to you would be an indicator of that."

Kate laughed to herself.

"Do you want there to be an "us"?"

"I think I would like that."

Tony gently stroked Kate's cheek. "Promise me you won't ever leave me like that again."

"I never wanted to leave you in the first place."

Tony looked into Kate's eyes. "I love you, Caitlin Todd."

"I love you too. Now can we please go to sleep?"

Tony chuckled. "Tired, huh? I told you me and Spike Steel had a lot in common!"

Kate playfully slapped his chest. "Shut up!"

Tony cuddled up to Kate, her resting her head against his chest as they both drifted off to sleep.

It was well past midnight when Gibbs walked into the Squad Room. He was surprised to see his team was still there, at least physically. McGee was slouched over at his desk, while Frost reclined with his feet up at Tony's desk. Ziva was stretched out at her desk and Jane has taken refuge on the floor space between Ziva's and Gibbs' desk, her blazer doubling as a blanket. After hours of searching, exhaustion had set in and they fell asleep where they worked.

"I told them to go home hours ago," said Vance walking down the stairs. "But they insisted on staying."

"It's called dedication," replied Gibbs.

"Your team will go the distance for you won't they?"

"It's not me they are doing this for."

"We are going to find him, Gibbs."

"Oh, I know I will," Gibbs walked over to his desk.

"Where have you been all this time?"

"Went to check on C.J."

"How is she?"

"Fine, still pissed he mess up her hand. Surgery is tomorrow."

The elevator dinged and a dark figure appeared in the darkened Squad Room. On edge, Gibbs reached for his gun.

"Please don't shoot me! I already have an ice pick wound I don't need a bullet!" said Skylar, her one good arm raised in the arm, while the other rested back in a sling.

Gibbs put his gun down.

"Williams, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be on medical leave," said Vance.

"I am, I just came to see Agent Gibbs," Skylar looked around at the sleeping agents and detectives. "You all having a slumber party or something?"

"What do you want, Williams?" asked Gibbs.

Skylar reached into her pocket pulling put a little black box. "I was going through my luggage and found this. I meant to show it to the team when we were in Boston but Rizzoli tackled me before I got the chance too."

Gibbs opened the box revealing a pendent in the shape of a star with a circle in the middle, thirteen stars within it. Behind the larger star was a pentagon with a bald eagle between each point of the medal. "Where did you find this?"

"I saw it in Kate's room, it looked like one of the drawings Kate gave me. Seeing as how her drawing of the case file had a hidden meaning I thought this might too."

"Let me see it."

Skylar went to her desk, taking down the picture to show Gibbs.

"What is it, Gibbs?" asked Vance

Gibbs looked at the drawing and the pendent, comparing the two. "It's a Presidential Medal of Freedom. It's awarded to individuals who have made an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interest of the United States."

"I know what a Presidential Medal of Freedom is, why does Kate have one?"

"I had it awarded to her when she died," Gibbs looked at the pendent. "Something isn't right about it though." Gibbs looked at the drawing, noticing the appearance of the stars. "Something's wrong with the stars."

Vance approached Gibbs examining the medal. He rubbed the center of the medal with his finger. "The middle star is elevated from the rest."

Skylar came closer as Gibbs used his nail to starch away at the medal revealing a glistening object in the center of the medal.

"Do Presidential Medals of Freedom contain diamonds?" asked Skylar.

"No," replied Vance in disbelief.

Gibbs flipped the medal over examining it further. Taking the medal between both of his thumbs, he cracked it in half. "I also don't recall them being plastic. This medal is a fake!"

"I knew it!" exclaimed Skylar. "I knew I was on to something!"

Gibbs held up a tiny diamond between his fingers and looked at Vance.

"I'll get Abby down here," said Vance.

Abby yawned as she lumbered in the lab, still dressed in her black flannel pajamas with skulls all around, her signature pigtails now just a single ponytail on top of her head. "Gibbs, I had literally just laid my down in my coffin when you called! This couldn't wait until morning?"

"It is morning," replied Gibb, he, Vance and Skylar waiting in the lab for her.

"I mean later this morning?"

Gibbs held up the tiny diamond. "I need you to take a look at this."

Abby blinked her eyes trying to focus on the object. "Man that is one tiny diamond! Where did you find it?"

"It was hidden in a star on a medal."

"I'm going to need a crazy strong microscope to look into that and my eyes are already tired from looking at the other ones, I'm going to need…"

Gibbs handed Abby a Caf-Pow.

Abby snatched the drink from Gibbs takes a big sip before shaking her body awake. "Okay, let's get to work!" Picking up a remote, she powered up her equipment and turned on the radio, blasting music.

"Do you really need that music right now?" asked Skylar, flinching from the volume of the music.

"You want me to work or not?" Abby took another gulp of her Caf-Pow before taking the diamonds from Gibbs heading over to her microscope.

Gibbs, Vance and Skylar stood back, allowing Abby to work.

"Bingo!" shouted Abby. "We have a winner!"

"You found something?" asked Vance.

"I sure did!" Abby flipped on the plasma screen bring up the image of a microchip distorted by a diamond like glare.

Gibbs smiled. "There it is!"

"There what is?" asked Skylar.

"Selsi."

"That's Selsi? That tiny thing?"

"Abby can you get that microchip out of there? So you can read it?"

"I don't think I need to," Abby walked over to another machine, placing the diamond inside. "After Tony and Ziva went undercover as those married assassins and Ducky found that microchip in the woman's eye, I decided to install hardware that would allow me to be able to read information on that small of a level. I think this will work in it," Abby walked over to her computer. Taking another swig of her Caf-Pow, she got to work on her computer. "Okay, something is coming up. Looks like some type of blueprint."

Vance looked at the plasma screen. "It looks like a drone."

"That's exactly what it is," said Gibbs. "When Ari killed Kate, he was planning on flying a drone mock up into a crowd of people on a Navy pier."

"Looks like Ari was planning on building one himself. A pretty big one," said Skylar.

"Abby, can you scroll down the page?" asked Gibbs looking at the moving screen. "He has maps on here too. Norfolk Naval Station, NAS Jacksonville, Naval Support Charleston, these are some of our biggest naval station on the East Coast!"

"In the country!" interjected Vance. "He was planning to attack Naval Bases!"

"I thought he was planning the next 9-11?" asked Skylar.

"You add up the number of military and civilians on those bases and you have just as many casualties as 9-11," said Gibbs.

"He's planning on finishing what Ari started," said Vance.

Gibbs examined the screen. "Abby what is that box in the corner?"

"What box?" asked Abby.

"The one on the left side of the screen."

Abby clicked the box bringing up another screen. "Whoa!" exclaimed the Goth.

"What the word is that?" questioned Vance.

"They're financial records. Looks like several different accounts in international banks with a lot of money!"

"I'm starting to get the impression our guy isn't after the plans as much as he is after this," said Gibbs.

"Where did Ari get that kind of money?" asked Vance.

"I recognize some of the names of these firms," said Skylar. "They are known to contribute to terrorist operations."

"This is terrorist money? What was he doing with it?"

"Buying a house," interjected Abby. "There is a deed to a house in Scotland in here."

"From the look of things, Ari was looking to run off with terrorist money and start himself a new life," said Vance.

"Not just him, look at the name on these documents," pointed out Gibbs.

"No wonder Ari wanted to keep this a secret."

"Must not have been secret enough if he found out about them," said Skylar

"I think we just found his motive."

Gibbs phone began to ring. "Gibbs?" he answered. "Okay Duck, I'm on my way." Gibbs hung up his phone. "Think we may have found two. Ducky has something."

"Ducky is still here?" yawned Abby.

"Yeah. Good work, Abbs," Gibbs gave the Goth a kiss on the cheek. "Go home and get some sleep."

"Gladly," replied Abby.

Gibbs, Vance and Skylar walked through the sliding autopsy doors, to find Ducky busy talking on the phone.

Ducky hung up the phone. "A seven hour time difference can make it very difficult to get test results from Tel Aviv, making for a very long night for me!"

"What have you got for me, Duck?" asked Gibbs.

"A familial match."

"What?"

Ducky got up walking over to a body on the autopsy table. "Since Caitlin's reappearance, I felt it was best not to take things at face value with this case."

"That's a wise move," said Vance.

"I have had Abby running and re-running DNA samples for me. And she was finally able to I.D. the man Caitlin shoot."

"Who is he?" asked Gibbs.

"Asad Haswari."

"Haswari? As in…"

"Ari Haswari? That's what I wondered! Vance was nice enough to request the results of the DNA test performed on Ari post-humorously for me and I just double checked with the pathologist at Mossad. The man Caitlin killed was related to Ari, looking at the DNA I would say he was a cousin."

"Ziva didn't recognize him."

"She wouldn't, he's a maternal cousin. I used mitochondrial DNA to make the match. This man is related to Ari through his mother not his father."

"He's enlisting Ari's family members?"

"No, he's enlisting his own."

Gibbs eyes grew big.

"He's related to Ari?"

Ducky nodded his head.

"That explains it."

"Explains what?"

"How he knew about Kate!" Gibbs exited autopsy. He pressed the up button pacing impatiently as he waited for the lift. He phone began to ring again. "Gibbs?" he answered, annoyed.

"Your time is up, Agent Gibbs," said the too familiar voice on the other line. "Please tell me you have made better progress from the last time we spoke?"

"I have Selsi, you bastard!"

"You do? Very good! For a minute there, I thought you would let me down but I see you really are a man of your word. What do you say we celebrate? You, me and Caitlin?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about a meeting between the three of us. You can give me my plans and I can apologize in person to Caitlin for the suffering I put her through."

"You think I'm stupid? This is probably another one of your setups."

"Gibbs, give me a chance! I gave you one."

"Who's to say we don't come out there and you don't shot us in the back?"

"I promise you, if I shot you it will not be in the back. Honestly Gibbs, I want to meet. Here is where,"

Gibbs listened as instructions to a meeting location were given and then the line went died.

Vance walked out of autopsy. "That was him wasn't it?"

"He wants to meet."

"We are doing this by the book, Gibbs! I don't want you going rogue like you did with Ari."

"Fine, I'll do it by the book," Gibbs walked into the elevator. "My book," he said under his breath.

The ringing of his phone caused Tony's eyes to shoot open. He reached over to the night table, quickly answering it as to not wake Kate, who to his delight was still laying blissfully next to him. "DiNozzo?" he answered in a whisper. "What do you want, McGee...What does it matter why I'm whispering?" Tony looked at Kate, making sure she was still sleep. "Okay, we will be there as soon as we can." Tony hung up the phone, collapsing into his pillow. McGee would have to call, ruining this perfect moment. Tony leaned over Kate, taking in her angelic face. He so didn't want to wake her but he had no other choice. "Kate?"

Kate remained still in his arms.

"Kate?"

Nothing.

Tony leaned over placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Mmm?" Kate began to stir.

"Kate, we have to get up."

"What time is it?" asked Kate, her voice thick with sleep.

"4am."

Kate pulled the cover tighter around herself. "It's too early!"

"Gibbs needs us at the office."

"I don't want to get up!" Kate rubbed her sleepy eyes, rolling over into her back, looking at Tony who hovered over her. "I just want to lay here."

"I do too but there is a little matter of someone trying to kill you that still needs to be resolved."

"Right? That."

Tony pecked Kate on the lips. "Come on, get up! You probably want to shower before we go."

"This is going to be a very awkward morning after. You know Gibbs is going to kill us if he finds out."

"I really could care less about what Gibbs thinks of us," Tony leaned in to kiss Kate passionately. "Though we should probably keep this to ourselves for a while. At least until after we find this guy."

"I agree. We just have to act as if nothing happened."

"I got a feeling for you that is something easier said than done. You got a turtle neck you can put on in case you break out in hives?" chuckled Tony, kissing Kate's neck.

"Very funny," Kate paused to enjoy the sensation of Tony's lips against her skin. "We better get going," Kate bunched the covers around her before stepping out of bed.

Tony laughed, as the cover failed to cover Kate's back side, revealing the butterfly tattoo on her bottom. "And here I thought it was an urban legend."

Kate turned around. "What was an urban legend?"

"Your tattoo. Gibbs was right, it's not a rose!"

Kate blushed as she tried to cover herself. "Um, yeah, I've been meaning to get that removed. I've just been so busy I haven't had the time to make the appointment."

"I like it."

"You do?"

"Yeah, nothing like a good doctor with a naughty side," Tony winked.

"I'm going to go shower," Kate slide out the bedroom.

Ziva, McGee, Jane and Frost sat in the Squad Room trying their best to wake up from their interrupted sleep. Tony and Kate walked into the Squad Room, trying their best not to let their psychical beings give away the secret they were both hiding.

"Okay, Kate and I are here, what's going on?" asked Tony.

"We don't know," yawned Frost. "Agent Gibbs won't say anything."

Jane looked up from her coffee to see Kate yawning. "You okay, Maur?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" questioned Kate, nervously.

"You look tired."

"I didn't get much sleep last night."

Jane sipped her coffee. "You two stay up watching movies or something?"

"No, I just had a bit of a restless night, that's all," Kate put her hand on her neck just waiting for her hives to form.

"She have another nightmare, Tony?"

"No, she just has a hard time getting to sleep last night," said Tony.

"You sleep with her last night? That always seems to help."

"I sure did," smirked Tony looking at Kate only for his smirk to be replaced with a grimace of pain when Kate elbowed him in the side.

Gibbs rounded the corner.

"Hey Boss," wince Tony. "What's going on?"

"He called," retorted Gibbs.

"The guy called back?" asked Jane.

"A few hours ago."

"What did he say?" asked Tony.

"Our time is up and he wants what's his or else."

"But we haven't found Selsi yet," replied Kate.

"Yes, we have. Williams found it hidden inside the Presidential Medal of Honor that I asked by awarded to you. She found in it your bedroom when you all were in Boston."

"So what are we going to do now?" asked Ziva.

"He asked for a meeting today, in Norfolk. He wants us to give him Selsi in person but I have a feeling he has something up his sleeve."

"What?" questioned Kate.

"Selsi is not only plans for a terrorist attack. It is a record of bank accounts containing millions of dollar of terrorist funded money all around the world. Ari wasn't just planning the next 9-11, he was planning his way out, yours too. That's the reason he's after you. He knew Ari had that money and he thinks that he gave it to his secret NCIS lover and then hid her and the money away to keep the money to himself."

"Okay?"

"Selsi is Isles spelled backwards. Ari asked Jenny to give you the last name Isles so that he would be able to find you and the information when he finished his work with the terrorist group."

Kate shook her head. "I didn't know anything about that, Gibbs."

"I know you didn't. But he doesn't. That's why he wants us to meet him."

"Us?" questioned Tony.

"Kate and I."

"So go meet with him, make him think you are returning Selsi, we surround him, take him down and end this!" said Jane.

"It's not going to be that simple. Those NCIS files you found at his apartment where the reports of the events that took place when Kate was supposedly killed. I think he plans to finish the job Ari started. He wants Kate died."

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Tony.

"We give him what he wants."

"What Kate?"

"Yep!"

"You're kidding, right? You're not about to take her there and let him kill her?"

"Not if things go according to plan."

"According to plan? Boss, she's not going!"

"It's our only option."

"No! There has to be another way. I'm not stand by and let you put Kate in danger! I'm not about to risk her life! I'm not going through that again!"

Kate grabbed Tony by the arm. "Calm down, Tony."

"No Kate!"

Gibbs watched Kate give Tony a strange look.

"I'll do it," said Kate. "I'm tired of running! I want to end this! If it's me he wants, it's me he gets!" Kate looked at Gibbs. "Let's just hope I come out of it alive this time."

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	29. Chapter 29

**Here we go! Chapter 29! Enjoy :-)**

**Do I really have to type this part? Really? You know the deal...**

Tony sat at his desk watching as Gibbs presented his plan of action to the team. While Gibbs' lips moved, the only thing Tony could hear were muffled tones, as his mind as elsewhere at the moment. Mostly on the honey-blonde woman who sat across from him. A woman whom if things didn't go exactly as Gibbs planned, might walk out of his life just as quickly was she returned to it.

The sight of people moving around him broke Tony from his trance. As the rest of the team dispersed, he slowly got up to approach Gibbs.

"This better be a question about what we're doing?" snapped Gibbs, turning his back to the agent as he sat at his desk.

"It is," replied Tony. "Why Kate?"

"Because his issue isn't with Ziva."

"You know what I mean?"

"It's our only option. We don't handle this now, he's going to come after her again."

"So _we_ will handle it, not Kate!"

"And why not?"

Tony had no response.

"You aren't the only one who lost Kate eight years ago, Tony! We all did! Me, McGee, Ducky, Abby, we all lost her too!"

"You don't understand."

"I understand perfectly but we have a job that needs to be done! A job that may require you to lose her again."

Tony looked at Gibbs. "This isn't about me."

"Are you sure?"

Silence came between the two.

"I don't want to lose her either, Tony."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Because I have no other choice! You have to trust me, DiNozzo! I don't want her bring her back in body bag!"

"That's good to know because if your plan doesn't work, she won't be the only one you bring back in a body bag." Tony walked away, rounding the corner where he ran into Kate.

"Hey, what happened to playing it cool?" exclaimed Kate.

"I was playing it cool," replied Tony, leaning against the wall of the vacant hallway.

"That was playing it cool?"

"I don't like what he's trying to do."

"We have a job to do, Tony!"

"He's going to get you killed!"

"It's not your choice, Tony! This is my life!"

"It's not just your life, Kate! It's mine too!" Tony wilted against the wall. "I can't lose you, Kate. Not again."

Kate walked up to Tony, wrapping her arms around his waist as she rest her head on his chest. "I don't want to lose you either."

"Then don't do this!"

"If there were any other way, I would do it in a heartbeat but there isn't. I'm just happy that we both know how the other feels and that we at least got to share one night together."

Tony rested his head on the top of Kate's head, kissing her soft hair.

Kate looked up at Tony "Please don't hate me for this."

"I could never hate you, Kate."

"You'll have my six out there today, right?"

Tony weakly smiled. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

Kate kissed Tony softly on the lips. "I have to go get ready."

Tony nodded as he unwillingly let Kate out of his embrace.

Jane sat in the Squad Room watching as Kate got ready for their rendezvous.

Kate looked up, noticing Jane watching her. "What?"

"I didn't say anything," replied Jane.

"But you want to say something."

"There's nothing to say."

Kate continued to change.

"You know for a woman who might be walking to her own death, you are mighty calm."

"My adrenaline levels are not elevated at this point. I'm sure the closer we get to the meeting I may become more jumpy."

"Are you scared?"

Kate looked at Jane. "Terrified but it's all a part of the job."

"This isn't your job anymore."

"Until this asshole is died, it is."

"You sound like me!"

"I learn from the best!"

"If the only thing you have learned from me is how to swear, I need to do better."

Kate smiled.

"Anyway I can talk you out of this?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

"I have to do this, Jane! If I don't there is no telling who else will get hurt or worse killed in his quest to get me! I mean it's because of me that C.J. is in the hospital and that Williams ended up with an ice pick in her arm! You nearly got shot in that hotel and Tony was almost hit by that car, it was all because of me! He wants me! I have to put a stop to this and if that means I don't come back alive well, at least I can die knowing that the people I love most are safe."

"You're coming back alive, Maur. You have four federal agents and two of Boston's finest watching your back."

"I had someone watching my back last time and I woke up as Maura Isles!"

"Nothing is going to happen to you."

"You can't promise that, Jane."

"Yes, I can and I am! I promised myself that I would never let anything happen to you and I don't plan on reneging on that! You are coming back, you hear me?" Jane's voice cracked, her emotions getting the best of her.

Kate said nothing.

"In fact, what do you say to after this is all over you and I go out for a burger at the Robber like we always do?"

"I don't think there is a Dirty Robber in D.C."

"Well, whatever shitty dive bar is around here! Meet me?"

Kate was quiet.

"Say you're going meet me later, Maur!"

Kate nodded her head. "I'll meet you, Jane."

"Good!"

"But if I don't…"

"Nope!" Jane held up her hand, silencing Kate. "Burgers! Tonight! Your treat!"

Kate smiled to herself as she pulled on the black NCIS field jacket.

"So this is what she looked like."

"What who looked like?"

"Kate Todd. I've been trying to imagine you as federal agent, I think I'm starting to get the picture."

Kate picked up the Sig off the desk, loading it and then placing it in her hip holster. "Now you get the full picture," she smiled.

"Badass!"

"You don't look so bad yourself!"

Jane looked down at the matching NCIS jacket she was wearing. "Never would have thought I'd be playing alongside the feds!"

"What? You don't like being Special Agent Rizzoli?"

"This cheap ass jacket is starting to make me itch!"

Kate laughed sitting down to change out of her designer heels.

"What? No Zanottis?"

"While they compliment this outfit well, I don't think they are an appropriate shoe for this situation."

"Especially if you can't run in them!" said Gibbs walking into the Squad room.

Kate stood up.

Gibbs paused as he took in the sight of Kate, in her old NCIS attire. He smiled at the thought of what could have been. "You look good, Kate!"

"Thanks, Gibbs."

Gibbs looked at Jane. "Not bad, Detective! We might be able to make an agent out of you after all!"

Jane raised an eyebrow. "Thanks?"

McGee, Frost, Ziva and Tony entered the Squad Room all wearing the black NCIS jacket.

"All set, Boss!" said McGee.

"Let's do this," ordered Gibbs, sending everyone towards the elevator.

Abby ran into the Squad Room. "Kate, Kate! I need to talk to you!"

Kate stopped. "What is it, Abbs?"

"I had a dream last night! You were on a rooftop and…"

"Abby, the last time you told me about one of your bête noirs, I didn't come back…"

"But…"

"Abbs," Kate looked at Jane. "Tell me later."

"But you…"

Kate held up her finger silencing the Goth. "Tell me later."

Abby watched as Kate got on the elevator with the rest of the team.

Skylar walked up, standing next to Abby. "Good luck!"

Gibbs looked at Skylar as the door closed.

"Kate is going to come back isn't she, Williams?" asked Abby.

"I hope so," sighed Skylar. "There nothing more I can do around here. I'm going to go. See you later, Abby." Williams left, leaving Abby standing alone.

Gibbs drove the car down the alley of the Norfolk warehouses, pulling the car into park. He sighed to himself as he studied his and Kate's surroundings. "He would pick here."

"Where are we?" asked Kate.

"You don't recognize it?"

Kate shook her head. "No."

Gibbs looked at a building a little ways in front of them. "You were killed right on the rooftop of that building."

Kate felt chills run down her spine as she looked around. "Are you sure about this, Gibbs?"

"Nope, but it's too late to turn back now. The question is, are you sure about this?"

Kate sighed. "No, but what other choice do I have?"

"You're coming home with us, Kate."

"Just make sure it's not in a body bag this time."

Gibbs smiled. "Come on."

Gibbs and Kate got out the car making their way to the entrance of the warehouse. Walking inside, all they found were a few abandoned cars along with stacks of crates littering the place.

"This place is empty, Gibbs," said Kate.

"Hello?" yelled out Gibbs. "Is anybody here?"

Footsteps could be heard coming from the distance.

Kate and Gibbs reached for their guns.

"I suggest you drop your weapons," said an accented voiced as the sound of guns being loaded filled the air above them.

Looking up, Gibbs and Kate saw two gun men carrying automatic weapons standing a floor above them, ready to shoot.

"Put the guns on the ground and put your hands in the air where I can see them!"

Gibbs and Kate looked at each other, deciding what to do.

"It's not an option! Put the weapons down or my men put two rounds through each of you!"

Gibbs and Kate put down their weapons and raised their hands.

"Very good!" The footsteps stopped in the shadows. "Did you bring my plans?"

Gibbs reached into his pocket, holding up the diamond between his fingers. "Got it right here!" He placed the diamond back in his pocket. "But you don't get it until we talk. Face to face!"

A chuckle came from the shadows before a figure emerged from the shadow and Gibbs and Kate came face to face with none other than Special Agent Daniel Levi. "Surprised to see me?"

"No," replied Gibbs, smugly.

Daniel laughed to himself. "Agent Todd, nice to see you again!"

"Wish I could say the same," snapped Kate.

"You don't seem happy to see me?"

"You've been trying to kill me! Not really a pleasant reunion."

"Yes, about that. I really am sorry if I put you through any stress, you see it's hard to find good help these days. I sent them out with the simple task of killing you and they just couldn't seem to complete the task. But, I ensure you it won't happen again."

"You're damn right, it won't."

Daniel smiled. "You like the location I chose for us?"

"I'm sure it's not a coincidence you brought us here."

"You're right," Daniel slowly approached the two. "You see eight years ago, the evolvement of you two in my life was supposed to end right here! Ari and I worked together in that terrorist cell for years. We were on our way to greatest until the famous Leroy Jethro Gibbs got involved. First, you shot Kaseem then you foiled our plans to shoot down Marine One, Al-Qaeda was starting not to trust our ability to carry out their work but they gave us one last chance. Ari had convinced them to invest millions of dollars in an attack against the U.S. Navy and they happily obliged. The plan was simple, use our testtrail of the drone to draw you out, we get rid of you and we would be free to carry out our plans. But a certain undercover, NCIS agent got in the way and ruined it!" Daniel focused his gaze on Kate. "Instead of Ari focusing on completing the mission and ensuring our way into Al-Qaeda, he decided he wanted out. He wanted to throw away everything we worked for just to be with you. He told me about his plan to take the money and disappear and I told him not to do it but he wouldn't listen. He was killed and I was left with the task of trying to explain to what happened!"

"So what? You want the plans back so you can perform the attack and be back in good standings with Al-Qaeda?" asked Kate.

"That's part of it," Daniel walked towards Kate. "I lost the only family I had because you and Agent Gibbs. While those plans will help make things right with Al-Qaeda, killing you and Agent Gibbs will bring me so much more joy!"

Kate starred into Levi's eyes, eyes the closely resembled those of Ari's.

"It's pity. You really are beautiful," Levi gently stroked Kate's cheek just the sound of gunfire sent her to the ground.

"Kate!" Gibbs lounged to Levi but the bullet piercing his chest left him laying on his back.

The sound of two shots firing filled the room as both of Daniel's gunmen the hit the ground. Daniel looked around to see where the shots came from just as the door to the warehouse came flying open as McGee and Frost came in firing off shots at Daniel who took off running into the shadows.

"Frost, go!" shouted McGee sending Frost running after Daniel as McGee knelled down to the ground. "Kate? Boss?"

Moans and groans came from the pair as they sat up.

"Fuck that hurt!" exclaimed Kate, holding her stomach where the bullet hit of vest.

"You okay?" asked Gibbs, helping her up.

"Yeah, I think so. Why did I have to let him shoot again?"

"Because now its self-defense and not murder and you won't feel bad when you put a bullet through him!" Gibbs reached behind him, pulling out another gun as did Kate.

"How did you know he would go for the vest?" asked McGee.

The sound of rapid gunfire emerged from the distance of the shadow.

"Two head upstairs, I'll help Frost!" Gibbs rushed further into the warehouse while Kate and McGee headed for the stairs.

Outside, Tony clung to the fire escape ladder on the side of the building, struggling to make his way up to the roof with Jane right below him.

"Dammit Tony! Hurry up and get up this ladder! I'm really getting tired of looking at your ass!" snapped Jane.

"Don't act like you are not enjoying this!" replied Tony.

"I'm not! Now hurry the hell up!"

Tony climbed a few more rungs, peeking his head over the ledge of the roof where he saw two men standing in conversation with guns strapped to them.

"What do you see?"

"Two in visual and they got big guns! Big, big guns!" Tony looked down at Jane. "I don't think we can take him head on, they got automatics. We may be able to get one but the other will definitely get us."

Jane looked into a window right in front of her, noticing a staircase further down the hall with just one person guarding it. Jane retreated down the ladder.

Tony watched as Jane carefully maneuvered to the other side of the ladder, stretching her long legs to stand on the windowsill and then slide in the window. "What are you doing?"

"Come here!"

Tony went back down the ladder.

"Get in here!" Jane helped Tony move from the ladder to inside the window.

The sound of bullets flying on the other side of the floor alerted Tony and Jane as well as the gunmen, who ran up the stairs yelling in Arabic.

Jane nodded towards the stairway. "Follow me!"

Tony followed as Jane tiptoed about the room, trying their best to stay out of view. Jane crossed the hall, signaling for Tony to stay where he was. They shared a look and they both knew what to do. The light filling the staircase let them know someone was coming. Using the hollowed doorframes as a cover, they waited until the gunmen reappeared at the bottom of the stairs, both firing several shots killing the man where he stood.

"Nice shot!" exclaimed Tony.

"You too! Let's go!" said Jane as she and Tony headed for the stairs.

Rushing onto the roof, Jane and Tony fired their weapons, taking out the two unsuspecting gunmen with a few shots. They looked at each other, proud of their accomplishment when the ping of a bullet hitting the door behind them sent them ducking for cover behind an elevated part of the roof.

"I thought you said you saw two of them?" questioned Jane, getting down as low as she could.

"I did," retorted Tony trying his best to hide from the flying bullets.

Tony and Jane fired back into the gunfire.

Inside the warehouse, Kate and McGee ducked behind separate pillars as they took on fire. Kate shot like a pro, until the room went quiet.

"McGee?" shouted Kate, looking for her partner.

"Yeah," replied the agent.

"You okay?"

"Yeah! You?"

"I'm fine! I think we're clear."

"Me too."

Guns still drawn, they began to move from their hiding places approaching the dead gunmen.

"None of these are Levi," said McGee looking at the dead gunmen scattered about.

The sound of popping above them pulled their attention to the roof.

"Oh no! Tony and Jane!" Without a second thought Kate ran for the stairs.

"Kate, wait!" shouted McGee but it was too late.

Running as fast as she could, Kate climbed up the stairs to the rooftop, where she saw see a gunman on opposite side of the roof firing an automatic weapon. Pressing her back against the door, she fired twice at the gunman, hitting him in the arm. Before he had the chance to realize what was happening, Kate was slowly walking onto the rooftop, firing shots with each step until the gunman laid in a pool of blood.

Jane and Tony looked at each other, puzzled by the silence.

"Jane? Tony?"

They looked around their hiding place to see Kate still with her gun pointed at the dead man.

"Kate?" questioned Tony, standing up.

"You two okay?" asked Kate, lowering her gun. "I heard the gunfire from downstairs."

"Yeah, now that you saved our asses!" said Jane.

"Gibbs was right, he said he wouldn't be coming alone."

"Did you get, Levi?" asked Tony.

"No, he took off running, I…" The sensation of hard metal pressed against the back of Kate's head made her freeze.

Daniel wrapped his arm, across Kate's chest, placing her between him and Jane and Tony's weapons. "Put them down or I put a bullet through Special Agent Todd's head?"

McGee, Frost and Gibbs appeared in the doorway, guns drawn.

"Let her go, Daniel!" ordered Gibbs.

Daniel faced Kate towards Gibbs, the gun to the side of her head. "Or what? You going to shoot me? You wouldn't dare! You shoot me, you'd have to put a bullet through her and you wouldn't dare!"

"But I would!" said Ziva, walking from the fire escape with her gun pointed at Daniel's back.

"Nice move, Agent Gibbs," chuckled Daniel. "You got me surrounded!

"Let her go, Levi!"

"I said I would end this here and I meant it! If there is one thing I learned from you Agent Gibbs, its anticipation," Daniel nodded off into the distance. "You see that building over there? That's where Ari was when he shot Kate in the head."

Gibbs and his team looked into the distance to see a reflective flash coming from a distant building.

"Right now, I have one of my men on that rooftop ready to take that same shot. You think I didn't know you two were wearing vests? I'm an NCIS agent, Gibbs! See I figured you were waiting from me to shoot before you took a shot at me. I shot you in the vest because I knew that you would chase after me thus we end up on the roof, where my sniper is ready to take aim and kill Kate the same way Ari should have eight years ago! See, anticipation!"

"You bastard!" gritted Gibbs.

"Yeah, I am! You can kill me if you want but either way, Kate dies!"

Gibbs slowly lowered his gun, causing the rest of the team to do the same.

Daniel smiled. "That's right, Gibbs. Put the gun down! Your hands are tied!"

"Gibbs," pleaded Kate, her heart racing in her chest.

"There is nothing he can do for you now, Kate. He messed up again and again your blood will be on his hands!" Daniel let go of Kate, taking a step back. "Say goodbye to Agent Todd, Gibbs."

Gibbs put his head down he left his gaze looking at each member of his team, especially Tony's. Finally is eyes met Kate's. "I'm so sorry, Kate."

"Gibbs, please," whispered Kate.

"Say goodbye, Gibbs!" yelled Daniel.

"Goodbye..."

"No!" Tony rushed towards Kate but stopped when he felt the blood splatted against his face.

**KAATTTEEEE!NOOOOO! What have I done? What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	30. Chapter 30

**Here we go! Chapter 30! Enjoy :-)**

**I DO NOT own NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles or anything related to it. All I own is this story concept and all original characters**

Tony stood trembling at the sight before him, his heart beating so hard he could hear the pounding in his ears. He wanted to move but his legs wouldn't let him, so he just stood there staring.

"Tony," said Gibbs, trying to bring him out his shock though he knew it was hopeless at this point. He walked up, placing his hand on the agent's shoulder. "Tony, listen to me…"

Tony's only response was a slap to Gibbs' hand as he pushed him away. His feet took the slow agonizing steps towards her, as she laid on the ground, motionless. His stomach lurched at the thought of what he might see once he finally made it over to her. Standing over her, he looked back at Jane, her hand clasped tightly over her mouth, bracing herself for what came next. He kneeled down beside her, taking a deep breath, he rolled her over, his eyes swelling with tears.

"Ow!"

It was all he needed to hear. "Kate," his voice was raw with emotion.

"Tony, move your knee! You're kneeling on where Levi shot me!"

Tony smiled as Kate's eye fluttered opened. He leaned over her, using his body as a shield over her, protecting her from another potential bullet. "Stay down, Kate."

"It's okay, Tony."

Tony looked up to see Gibbs standing over them. Gibbs reached down his hand helping Kate up. "We're safe." He looked into the Kate's eyes. "She's safe."

Kate smiled. "Guess your plan worked?"

Gibbs looked over at the body of Daniel Levi, his eyes staring blankly into the heavens, a pool of blood surrounding his head. A single bullet wound piercing his forehead. "Yeah, guess it did!"

"Plan? This wasn't part of the plan!" said Tony, confused.

Just then Skylar appeared on the rooftop, wearing a NCIS jacket like the rest of the team. In her hand she carried a Remington M700 tactical rifle, she walked straight up to Kate. "As a sniper, they teach you to police your brass but in this case," she popped a bullet out the rifle handing it to Kate. "I don't mind leaving my mark!"

Kate looked at the bullet.

"I told you that drawing of yours was realistic!"

"It's the same bullet Ari used, they call it a…" said Gibbs.

"A Kate. I know. Seems fitting," Kate gripped the bullet in her hand. "You had me worried, Williams! Thought I would be walking around with one ear!"

"I told you I got this!"

"Williams that was you?" asked Tony.

Skylar smiled. "Yeah! Nice huh? Not bad for a shooter with a bum shooting arm!"

"Not bad at all, Corporal!" smiled Gibbs.

"Corporal?" said the team in unison.

"Corporal Skylar Williams, United States Marine Corp."

"You're a Marine?" asked Jane.

"Was, I was medically discharged."

"Not before graduating top of her class from Scout Sniper School," stated Gibbs.

"You all were so busy looking at the bad in my past, you overlooked the good!"

"But what are you doing here?" asked Ziva.

"Gibbs told me to follow you here."

"Levi wasn't as worried about getting Selsi back as much as he was about getting his revenge on Kate and me. He knew how much seeing Kate die affected me so what better way to get back at someone than make them relive their worse nightmare. I figured he would try to put a sniper up there so I called in Williams."

"And he was right, I took out a sniper a few rooftops over."

"Good work, Agent Gibbs! You bet him at his own game!" exclaimed Frost.

"Anticipation, Frost," smirked Gibbs. "Come on, let's get the gear out of the truck so we can process this scene and get the hell out of here."

Ziva, McGee, Frost and Jane headed down the stairs.

"You did good, Kate!" smiled Gibbs as heading down the stairs.

Kate looked at Tony in shock. "Wow! Gibbs just told me I did good! I thought I'd be dead before…"

Tony place a finger against Kate's lips silencing her. "Let's not finish that sentence until after we are off this rooftop."

"Okay?"

"Why didn't you tell me about this part of the plan?"

"You barely wanted to go along with the plan as it was! You really think if I had of said "oh yeah and Williams is going to take a shoot at Levi with inches of my head," you would have gone along with it?"

"No but…"

"But nothing! The plan worked, that's all that matters!"

"When I saw you hit the ground, I thought you were gone. I felt blood hit my face and I thought it was happening all over again."

"I'm okay, Tony. A little sore but okay."

Tony pulled Kate into him, capturing her lips.

"What was that for?"

"For keeping your promise."

Kate kissed Tony again until the sound of a camera shutter pulled them apart.

"And send!"

Kate and Tony looked towards the stairwell where Skylar stood with her phone pointing towards them.

"Williams! What are you doing?" asked Tony.

"Sending a picture of you and Kate kissing to Abby. Her dream came true!"

"What?" questioned Kate.

"Abby had a dream last night that you and DiNozzo were kissing on a rooftop and it happened! She is going to freak when she sees this picture!"

"She's not the only who's going to freak when they see that," said Kate to Tony. "Williams, don't send that!"

"It's too late!"

Too late in deed, walking into the lab with evidence from the scene later that afternoon, Tony nearly fell to the ground when Abby jumped him in a hug.

"Oh my god, Tony! It finally happened!" exclaimed Abby.

"Abby, I can't breathe!" gasped Tony.

Abby let go of Tony. "I so dreamed this! Well I guess it was more of a premonition but that doesn't matter! It happened!"

Tony looked around the lab where a picture of Tony and Kate kissing was framed inside a heart on all of Abby's plasma screens. "Guess you got the picture?"

"Yes! I'm so happy! All these years, I wished you and Kate could have been together and it finally happened!"

"You wanted me and Kate together?"

"Since Kate joined the team! I always thought the two of you were made for each other but you were both just too stubborn to do anything about it! I'm glad you both finally saw the light! You two look so cute together!"

Tony looked at the photo and smiled. "We do, don't we?"

"What did Gibbs say?"

"He doesn't know."

Abby smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing. So when is the wedding?"

"Wedding?"

"This is your second chance at love, Tony! You can't waste it! It's rule number 5!"

"I don't think Kate and I are at the wedding stage yet, Abby. We are still trying to figure this out."

"What is there to figure out? You two love each other! You need to be with each other! You can't let her go, Tony!"

"I'm not planning on it, Abbs."

"Good! And as you know, I'm awesome at planning wedding so when the time comes…"

"Slow your roll, Abby."

"Fine, where is Kate? I need to congratulate the other half of Tate!"

Upstairs, Kate, Jane and Frost sat in Vance's office along with Gibbs.

"Daniel Levi's real name was Daniel Haswari," explained Vance. "He was Ari's half-brother, they shared the same mother. His father, like Ari's was Israeli. He was killed along with their mother during an Israeli missile attack. As his older brother, Ari took Daniel into his care and as a result turned him onto Hamas as well as Al-Qaeda. After Ari's death, Daniel started his crusade to get back at Kate, going by the name of Daniel Levi, his father's last name, he took on various law enforcement jobs in hopes that his access to national and even international databases would lead him to Kate as it did."

"No wonder nothing came up when we searched for Daniel Levi," said Jane.

"You all did great work out there today! On behalf of NCIS, I want to thank you Detective Rizzoli and Detective Frost for assisting in this mission. You went above and beyond the call of duty today! I've informed you Lieutenant of your work, he is very pleased!"

"Pleased enough to give us some paid time off?" smirked Frost.

Jane slapped Frost on the arm. "Shut up! Director Vance we are happy that we could help. We would do it again in a heartbeat if it means Maura is out of harms way," said Jane, looking at Kate.

"Well you can rest easy, Detective. No one will be after Kate anymore. The information in Levi's apartment led us to the rest of his cell. They have all been apprehended."

"That's great!"

"I know you two are probably anxious to get back to your lives in Boston, NCIS would be more than happy to put you up in one of D.C.'s finest hotels and put you on a that first, first class flight back to Boston when we can."

"Thank you, Director Vance."

"If you two would excuse us, I need to speak to Agent Gibbs and Kate in private."

"Sure."

Jane and Frost left the room.

Vance looked at Kate. "I got good news for you, Agent Todd. As of this afternoon, the Twilight operation is over. You are officially relieved of your duties."

"And here I didn't even know I was working an operation for the last eight years," replied Kate with a sigh of relief.

"You did phenomenal work out there today, Kate. I see you still have NCIS blood inside you."

"Maybe just a little."

"Well now that the operation is over, there's no need for your cover anymore. You are free to return to life as Caitlin Todd. With the work you've done the last few days it would be my honor to welcome you back to the agency. I'm sure that Agent Gibbs would be happy to have you back on his team."

"She never left," said Gibbs.

"Coming back to work as a field agent? I don't know if I'm cut for that anymore," replied Kate.

"I thought you might feel that way in which case Ducky and Mr. Palmer have said they would love to have you work with them. What do you say, Agent Todd? Would you like to come back and work with us at NCIS?"

Kate thought for a moment "I...ah…I don't know? I've been living life as Maura for the past eight years, I have lot to consider."

"I understand the decision of how to continue life at this point is a difficult one."

"If it's okay with you, Director, I would like some time to consider my options."

"By all means. But I need an answer sooner rather than later so I know how to proceed. What do you say we talk about this again tomorrow?"

"That's fine." Kate stood up exiting Vance's office. Walking into the Squad Room, Kate felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She should have been happy, she was free to be herself again but at what cost.

Jane sat in the booth of the bar sipping a beer when Kate joined her. "Hey!" said Jane, taking another sip. "I thought you forgot."

"I never forget an engagement and after the day I had, I need this!" Kate signaled for the waitress ordering herself a glass of wine. "Where is Frost? Thought he would be joining us?"

"I invited him but he and McGee went to hang out somewhere."

"They seem to have hit it off."

"They have."

Kate looked around at the bar. "This place is nice!"

"Abby recommended it. Apparently the two of you came here for one of your girls' nights. You got really shit faced and ended up with a butterfly tattooed on your ass!"

"She told you about that?" Kate blushed.

"Oh yeah! She also told me about the wet t-shirt contest."

"In my defense, I was in college and it was Spring Break!"

"Was it Spring Break when you danced on the stripper pole and let guys throw money at you?"

"I plead the fifth," Kate sipped her wine.

Jane laughed. "For a good catholic girl, Kate Todd was a wild child!"

"We all have our questionable moments."

"Some more than others." Jane chuckled as she sipped her beer. "So what did Director Vance want?"

"He wanted to inform me that the Twilight operation is officially over and I am relieved of my duties."

Jane held up her beer bottle. "That deserves a toast."

Kate held up her wine glass. "What are we toasting?"

"To you being one hell of an agent and then one hell of a doctor and then back again all for the sake of keeping our country safe. You are one badass chick!"

Kate tapped her glass against Jane's bottle. "And to you, for risking your life for me."

"That's what friends are for," Jane sipped her beer placing it on the table. Jane noticed Kate looking down at the table, swirling her glass of wine. "What's the matter?"

Kate shook her head. "Nothing."

"That's not a nothing face. What's going on in that brain of yours?"

Kate looked up at Jane. "Vance offered me a job."

"What? As a field agent?"

"That? Or working with Ducky."

"That was nice of him."

"I guess."

Silence came between the two.

"You going to stay?"

Kate looked at Jane. "Why would I stay?"

Jane shrugged her shoulders. "To have your old life back? Your job? Your friends?" Jane paused. "Tony?"

"Why would I say here for Tony?" laughed Kate, nervously.

Jane held up her phone, showing Kate the photo of her and Tony from Abby's lab. "Abby, sent it to me."

Kate mouth dropped open, snatching the phone from Jane to examine the photo closer. "Oh my god!"

"I knew there was something going on between you two. Guess now I have proof."

Kate ran her finger over the photo, her look of shock slowly fading to one of content as she admired the photo of her and Tony.

"So you going to tell me what happened or you going to make me guess?"

Kate handed the phone back to Jane, taking a deep breathe. "He said he loved me."

"And?"

"I am in love with him."

"You haven't seen the man in eight years?"

"I've always been in love with him."

"With DiNozzo?"

Kate tilted her head. "No, Gibbs!" she replied sarcastically.

Jane threw her hands in the air. "Sorry!"

"I feel safe with him, Jane. Through everything that has happened, he made me feel safe. He always has! When I worked at NCIS I never worried about anything happening to me because he was always right there. In fact, I was more worried about losing him than anything. It took him nearly dying from gnomonic plague for me to realize how much I actually cared about him."

"You sleep with him?"

Kate bit her lip. "Last night."

"Last night?!"

Kate nodded.

"I knew I should have gone back to his place! Should've never left you two alone!" Jane sighed. "How was he?"

"Jane!"

"What? You asked about Casey!"

Kate fidgeted with the ring on her finger. "He made love to me."

Jane raised her eyebrow. "Really?"

"When it was over, he held me. The entire night, not once did he let me go. And I liked it, Jane! Usually, I don't let people close to me, not even lovers but I actually like the feeling of being in his arms! I wanted him to hold me!"

"Sounds like love to me."

"But I love you too, Jane."

"Maura, that LLBFF thing was just to get Giovanni off our backs! I'm not actually attracted to you!"

"I mean love in the platonic, familial sense! You are my best friend! You basically become a sister to me. Before you came along, I was miserable as Maura but you changed that! After I met you, I found joy in being around living people again! I wasn't alone anymore! I can't just up and desert you after all that."

"Maura, you can't worry about me! You have a second chance and I don't want you to waste it on account of me! Despite being annoying as fuck, DiNozzo is a good guy and he obviously cares for you a lot and you him. What kind of friend would I be if I stepped in the way of your happiness?"

"You wouldn't be upset if I stayed here?"

"Hell yeah, I'm going to be upset! We're a team! We're Rizzoli and Isles not just Rizzoli! But, I'll get over it because I know you will okay. We will still be friends. Nothing will ever change that. All that matters is that you are happy. Whether that's here or back in Boston."

"Thank you, Jane."

"Yeah," Jane sipped her drink. "At least I don't have to worry about him being a serial killer!"

"No, I'm fairly certain Tony's worse attribute is his immaturity."

"That's just as bad!"

Kate laughed.

"So can I enjoy one last meal with my best friend before you run off with your NCIS boyfriend?"

"I haven't made my decision yet, Jane."

"I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to choose."

Later that night, Tony sat on the sofa watching a movie when he was frightened by a knock on the door. Jumping up, he headed to the door, a smile taking over his face when saw Kate standing on the other side.

"Hey!" Tony grinned

"Hey, I'm not interrupting am I?" asked Kate.

"No! Not at all! I was hoping you would come by!"

"Can I come in?"

"Please!" Tony stepped aside, allowing Kate inside. "Everything okay?"

"For the most part."

"How was dinner with Jane?"

"It was nice."

"Glad you enjoyed it."

"Tony, I need to talk to you."

"Okay?"

Kate sighed. "Vance offered me my job back at NCIS this afternoon."

Tony's face lit up. "That's amazing, Kate! You get to stay here with me!"

Kate put her head down. "I'm going back to Boston, Tony."

"What? Why? I thought you wanted to be together?"

"I do, Tony. But I don't know if this is where I belong anymore."

"You belong here, Kate! With NCIS, with the team! With me!"

"Kate does but not Maura! Maura belongs in Boston, with B.P.D. and Jane!"

"Jane?"

"She's my family, Tony! Her and her entire family took me in when I had no one else and made me feel wanted!"

"But you're not alone anymore, Kate! You have your old life back!"

"But I have a new life that I have invested in as well!"

"But that's not your life, Kate! It's Maura's!"

"But I am Maura, Tony!" Kate flopped down on the sofa, resting her head in her hands. "I should be happy that I am finally free from this nightmare but now I'm forced to make a choice I don't want to make! I stay here I lose Jane and all I worked for these last eight years but I go back to Boston, I lose you and the team and I don't want that either."

Tony sat down next to Kate. "What do you want?"

"I don't know."

"I've never known Caitlin Todd to not know what she wants."

Kate thought for a moment. "I want you and me, together, working on a relationship or whatever it is that we have started here."

"I like the sound of that," smiled Tony.

"But I also want to be able to run to Jane whenever you tick me off and the two of us lay in bed drinking wine and eating ice cream while I gripe about how annoying you are until you come knocking on the door with some cute apology! But the only way for that to happen is if either Jane moves here or you come with me to Boston and I can't ask either of you to uproot your lives for me!"

"Rizzoli means a lot to you, huh?"

"Yeah, she does. But so do you. And I know it sounds silly to be this torn up about something like this..."

"It's not silly at all, Kate. You have a loyalty to Jane. The reasons you don't want to leave her are probably the same reasons I'm still working for Gibbs after all these years."

"I don't know what to do, Tony."

Tony was quiet. "If you want me to come to Boston with you so you can still have your best friend, I'll go."

"Tony, this is my problem not yours."

"It's _our _problem, Kate."

"But you've worked at NCIS for twelve years! You love it there!"

"But I love you more! I told you Kate, I'm not losing you again. If you feel that Boston is where you need to be, then I'm coming with you. Wherever makes you happiness, I'm there too!"

"That's really sweet of you, Toy but I can't let you do that."

"I didn't ask for your permission," Tony dropped down his head making eye contact with Kate. "You look tired."

"I am."

"Come here," Tony laid back on the sofa, pulling Kate into his arms. "You need to rest."

"I can't rest, I have too much anxiety," yawned Kate.

"Then let me worry for you," Tony reached down pulling off Kate's heels, throwing them to the floor. Pulling a blanket off the back of the sofa covering them up. "Go to sleep."

She laid her head on his chest, letting out a heavy sigh, her eyes slowly closing.

Tony kissed Kate's soft hair, watching as her breathing slowly evened out and she finally rested peacefully in his arms. Once he was sure that Kate was sound asleep, he reached over to the coffee table, picking up his phone. He dialed.

"Rizzoli," came the raspy voice on the other line.

"Hey Jane."

"DiNozzo? Why are you calling me? What's wrong? Is Maura alright?"

"She's fine. She's sleeping." Tony looked down at Kate. "You and I need to talk."

The next morning, Tony arrived early work to find Gibbs already seated at his desk with his morning coffee.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs looked at his watch. "You're early."

Tony put his things at his desk. "I know."

"Something wrong?"

Tony approached Gibbs desk. "I need to talk to you? You know Vance offered Kate back her position at NCIS?"

"Yeah, she said she wasn't sure if she wanted to be a field agent again so he offered her a position down in autopsy."

"Kate isn't sure that she wants to come back to NCIS."

"I sensed that. Can't blame her, she's been living as Maura Isles for the last eight years and to just ask her to give all that up can't be an easy decision."

"She doesn't want to leave Jane."

"The two of them are pretty close. They've been through a lot together."

"Yeah, they have. I don't know if you know or not but Kate and I are..."

"I saw the picture."

"I know rule 12 says that…"

"She isn't your coworker anymore, DiNozzo. Just remember rule 8."

"I want to be with her, Boss."

"So be with her, I'm not standing in your way."

"But I also want her to be happy, that's sort of what I need to talk to talk to you about."

Vance entered into the Squad Room followed by Jane. "Agent Gibbs, I have a situation I would like to discuss with you."

Tony and Jane looked at each other.

**Reader interaction time! What do you think Vance wants to discuss with Gibbs? Will Jane be staying in D.C. or is Tony going to Boston? Reviews and comments are welcomed and an update is coming soon :-)**


	31. Chapter 31

**Here we go! Chapter 31! Enjoy :-)**

**After thirty-one chapters, you know the deal so we shall proceed…**

Tony laid in bed, playing big spoon to Kate's little spoon as they slept comfortably. The sound of the alarm clock going off on the side table caused the couple to stir from their sleep as Tony clumsily reached his arm out, searching for the noisy device. Finally reaching his goal, he slammed the alarm off, returning his arm back under the covers and around his girlfriend's waist. He placed a kiss on her cheek. "Time to get up, Kate."

"Mmm," Kate snuggled into Tony. "Ten more minutes."

"Come on, you don't want to be late on your first day back."

Kate remained still.

Tony kissed the nape of Kate's neck, causing her to giggle.

"Stop it," Kate playful nudged Tony with her elbow.

"What?" He kissed her neck again. "I'm trying to wake you up!"

"You keep that up, we'll never get out of bed," Kate shivered as she felt Tony's kisses trailing from her neck to her ear.

"Is that so?" Tony continued to shower Kate with kiss.

Kate rolled on her back, capturing Tony's lips with hers.

Tony smiled. "Good morning."

Kate laughed. "Morning."

Tony looked into Kate's hazel eyes. "Have I told you I love you?"

Kate shook her head. "Not yet."

"I love you, Dr. Caitlin," Kiss. "Maura," Another kiss. "Isles!" Another kiss. "And don't forget it!"

Kate laughed. "I still have to get used to the sound of that."

"I love you?"

"No! My name!"

"Dr. Caitlin Isles? What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing, I just wonder if I should have just left my name as Maura Isles. I mean Jane and everyone else still call me Maura."

"That's because to them you are still Maura. Only Jane and Frost know about what happened."

"But Kate just feels more natural to me now."

"So go by Kate! Or Maura! Or Mighty Mouse for that matter! I don't care what you go by, I'm just happy to have _you_ back," Tony kiss Kate passionately.

"I love you, Tony."

Tony grinned. "Come on, let's get up!"

"Fine," sighed Kate.

Tony kissed Kate once more before rolling over and hopping out of bed. Stretching, he took a few steps before falling to the floor with a thud. "Dammit Bass! Why are you always in the middle of the floor!" exclaimed Tony from the ground.

Kate laughed. "He likes to sleep at the end of the bed."

"Does he have to sleep on my end?" Tony pulled himself up from the floor, limping a bit as he tried to get around the tortoise that simply looked at him.

"He likes you."

"You're his owner! Why doesn't he sleep on your side?"

"You're his owner now too! And why don't you watch where you're going?" asked Kate, getting out of bed.

"I'm still getting used to have a giant turtle walking around the house. Why couldn't we have a normal pet like a dog?"

"He's a tortoise and if you want to get a dog, maybe we can look into it."

"Really?"

"Why not?"

"Cause when two people get a pet together, it means things are pretty serious."

"We live together, we sleep together, and we take care of Bass _together_. I think things are already serious between with us."

Tony smiled wrapping his arms around Kate's waist. "Maybe one day we will have kids together?"

"Maybe?" smiled Kate pecking Tony on the lips. "In the meantime, can you feed Bass? There are some organic strawberries and cacti in the fridge."

"He eats better than I do!"

"You can have some cacti too if you want!"

"Very funny!"

Kate giggled. "I'm going to go shower." She walked out the room.

Tony looked down at the tortoise on the floor. "Come on, Bass, let's get you some breakfast."

Tony walked into the kitchen, flicking on the light. He sighed as he looked at his surroundings, so much had changed. Nothing felt familiar anymore but he was okay with it because the change meant that he got to have Kate and that was all that mattered. Walking to the refrigerator, he pulled out the bowl of organic strawberries Kate had washed up and the bunch of cacti. Shuffling through the drawers for a peeler, he had no idea where anything was in the kitchen, he located the kitchen tool peeling the needles off the cactus for the tortoise. He kneeled down offering the vegetation to the animal. "Here you go, buddy."

Bass eagerly took the cactus from his owner.

Tony placed some strawberries in his bowl, putting it in front of Bass. Tony gently pat Bass' shell as he ate a strawberry before standing up, looking at the elaborate espresso machine stationed on the counter. Tony shook his head, "Oh no!" Tony rummaged through the cabinet pulling out the jar of instant coffee.

Dressed smartly in a red blouse and tight fitting tan skirt and heels, Kate was led down the hallway by the aroma of coffee in the air. She smiled, walking up to Tony who stood with his back to her, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Hey!" exclaimed Tony. "You scared me!"

Kate rested her head on his back. "You figured out the espresso maker!"

"No, it's instant. I'm not going anywhere near that contraption!"

Kate playful slapped Tony. "That contraption is a top of the line espresso machine."

"It's complicated! It shouldn't take twenty minutes to make coffee!"

Kate turned on the machine. "The process enhances the flavor!" She took Tony's cup from him.

"Hey, I'm drinking that!"

"Not anymore! You live with me, you are going to learn the joys of espresso."

"I prefer the joys of other activities," Tony looked at Kate seductively, absorbing every inch of her gorgeous figure.

Kate tilted her head, flashing Tony a flirty dimpled smile.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Tony walked over to answer the door.

Jane stood on the other side, dressed in her grey pantsuit and black V-neck t-shirt. She looked Tony over. "Is me seeing you in your boxers going to became a regular occurrence?" She asked in disgust.

Tony looked down at his sleeping attire. "If you stop coming over, it won't be!"

"I got a better idea, why don't you stop dating my best friend so I don't have to see you at all?" Jane pushed her way through the door, heading to the kitchen.

"Could you two please not start this morning?" begged Kate as she prepared a cup of espresso.

"Tell DiNozzo to keep his pants on and we won't have a problem!"

"I just woke up, Jane," replied Tony.

"Never heard of pajama pants?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "I'm going to get dressed."

"Thank you!" cheered Jane.

Tony cut his eyes at the woman before heading to the bathroom.

Kate chuckled. "Want some espresso?"

"That depends on how long I have to wait for it," replied Jane.

"The instant is on the counter."

Jane retrieved a cup from the cabinet. "So you ready for today?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your first day back to work after everything that happened. Starting life as Caitlin Isles. You ready?"

"Nothing, I haven't done before. I should be asking you are you ready? You and Tony working together?"

"I'm not worried about DiNozzo. We are both trained professionals, we know how to conduct ourselves. I'm just glad I still get to work with you."

"Thank you again, Jane."

"For what?"

"For everything you have done for me and Tony. I don't know how I can ever pay you for what you've done."

"Just don't go changing identities again and we are even!"

Kate smiled. "Deal."

Jane and Kate's cellphones simultaneously rang.

"Rizzoli?"

"Isles?"

They answered respectively.

"I'm on my way," Jane hung up her phone. "Duty calls."

"Yeah," Kate hung up her phone. "I'll go get, Tony."

Tony, Jane and Kate arrived at the crime scene, yellow police tape marking off where the body was found, a police officer standing watch. He held up his hand, stopping them. "I need to see I.D."

Kate flashed her badge.

The officer held up the tape allowing Kate through. "Right this way, Dr. Isles."

"I'm with her," said Jane, following after Kate.

The office dropped the tape. "Need to see I.D."

Tony laughed. "What? Forget your I.D., Rizzoli?"

"She's with me!" shouted a male voice from the distance.

Jane looked up to see Gibbs approaching the officer.

"It's okay, she's on my team."

The officer held of the tape allowing Jane through along with Tony who flashed his NCIS badge.

"Thanks Gibbs, HQ issued me my Sig and badge but they are dragging their ass with getting me my photo ID."

"I told you to come with me when I got mine," interjected Kate. "I know from experience how slow they are down there."

"No worries," said Gibbs, leading them over to the NCIS truck, pulling out a black NCIS jacket, hat, and box of work boots. "Welcome to NCIS, Agent Rizzoli." He handed the items to Jane.

"What's this?"

"Your new uniform. You're a part of this team now, you need to look like it!"

Jane pulled a boot out of the box. "Who the hell did you get these things for? Bozo?" exclaimed Jane looking at the large black work boot.

"What too small?" smirked Tony.

Jane looked inside the boot. "They're a men's size twelve!"

Tony burst into laughter until the disapproving gaze from stopped him.

"There's another pair in the truck," said Gibbs.

"Do I really have to wear these things?"

"Don't worry, Jane. They are actually very comfortable," smirked Kate.

"Glad you feel that way, Kate," Gibbs pulled out another shoe box. "Ducky had me get you a pair too."

Kate's mouth dropped open as she took the box. "Thank you, Gibbs but I prefer to wear my own shoes."

"Can't work a crime scene in high heels, Kate."

"I ensure you that I am more than capable of doing my job in my heels."

"I'm sure you are but heels aren't part of the uniform."

"Uniform?"

Palmer walked over and handed Kate the article of clothing. "Tony said you wore a small!" He smiled.

"You two can change in the truck. We'll meet you over by the body," Gibbs, Palmer and Tony left the two women alone.

Jane and Kate looked at each other.

A few minutes later, Jane and Kate emerged from the truck dressed in their new attire. Jane walked in stride wearing her NCIS jacket, her hair pulled into a ponytail under her NCIS hat. Meanwhile, Kate trudged, tugged on her black NCIS medical examiner's jumpsuit as they walked to crime scene where Gibbs, Tony, Ziva, McGee, Ducky and Palmer were already at work.

"Hey, look at you two!" McGee snapped a candid photo of the pair with the camera. "Looking good!"

Ducky smiled. "My Caitlin, don't you look dashing!"

"I don't see how, this jumpsuit isn't very form flattering and this material doesn't breathe!" gritted Kate. "I don't understand why I can't wear my own clothes to crime scenes?"

"Because you are working a crime scene and not a Paris runway," replied Gibbs.

"Oh, almost forgot," Palmer pulled a NCIS hat from his bag placing it on Kate's head. "There you go, Dr. Isles! All set!"

"You're kidding, right?" groaned Kate.

"Don't want to contaminate the crime scene!"

"Yeah, Maur! Don't want to contaminate the crime scene!" chuckled Jane.

Kate rolled her eyes as she pulled her hair back under the ball cap. "I'm starting to miss Boston."

"For what it's worth, I think the outfit is _very_ form flattering," Tony winked at Kate.

"If you two don't get to work, you won't have to miss Boston because you'll both be there!"

"Sorry Gibbs," said Kate and Tony in unison.

"Rizzoli, start taking pictures!"

"Isn't that a job for CSRU?"

"No, it's your job!"

"Yeah, Probie!" smiled McGee handing Jane the camera.

"Hey, don't start that Probie shit!" snapped Jane. "It's Rizzoli or Jane!"

"Until you become a full time agent, you are a probie, Probie!" retorted Tony.

"Don't worry, Jane. They only just recently stopped calling me Probie," said Ziva.

"Come on Dr. Isles, I'll show you how we process a crime scene," offered Palmer.

"I was a chief medical. I know what I'm doing," replied Kate, pulling on a pair of gloves.

"Right. Hey seeing as how you are somewhat of a probationary medical examiner here, can I call you Probie?"

"Not if you enjoy walking, Jimmy!"

Ducky walked over to Gibbs who stood back watching his team. "Isn't this nice? Having the kiddies back together?"

Gibbs looked on as Tony kneeled down next to Kate, looking on lovingly while she examined the victim. Gibbs smiled. "Yeah, it is."

**Kiss From a Rose**

**A SportyLovatic Fanfiction**

**There you have it, kiddies! The end! I just want to say thank you to all of those who read this fanfiction and to those who reviewed and left comments on it. I greatly appreciate your kind words and encouragement in writing this. I don't know if any of you are interested in a sequel but I would love to write one! I have an idea but I am open to suggestions if you have any. So one last time I ask you, what do you think? Reviews and comments are still welcomed :-)**

**In parting, I wish you love, peace and TATE**


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